Thanksgiving is the most important holiday in the US because, more than Christmas or the Fourth of July, it is a time when American families reunite to express gratitude for one another. It’s the day when family members feel closer than at any other time. No wonder millions of Americans disregarded warnings and traveled home to be with family members on November 26 despite a surging Covid-19 death toll and record hospitalizations. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said three days before Thanksgiving: “Assume everyone you would see is infectious.”
From Bloomberg News on December 16: “New cases in California shattered another record as a deepening crisis threatens a shortage of intensive-care beds and medical staff. California reported a record 53,711 new virus cases and 293 deaths, according to state health department data. The daily case count includes 41,081 newly reported infections—shattering the prior record by more than 5,000—while the remaining cases reflect a backlog from previous days due to a new processing system, the department said in a statement. Hospitalizations jumped 4.3 percent to a record 15,886 patients.”
From the December 10 post of healthline.com: “Health officials say the predicted surge of post-Thanksgiving Covid-19 cases has arrived, with the United States topping 200,000 new cases and 3,000 deaths per day.”
From Bloomberg, December 20: “Hospitals in Southern California are converting space after the region’s intensive-care units hit full capacity. They’ve moved in reserve ventilators and postponed elective surgeries after starting some days with no ICU beds at all. “We are getting crushed,” said Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. “I’m not going to sugar-coat this.”
From The Atlantic: “How did it come to this? A virus a thousand times smaller than a dust mote has humbled and humiliated the planet’s most powerful nation. America has failed to protect its people, leaving them with illness and financial ruin. It has lost its status as a global leader. It has careened between inaction and ineptitude. The breadth and magnitude of its errors are difficult, in the moment, to truly fathom.”
Douglas Public Health Network, a non-profit US organization, has a social- media post to remind everybody that the coronavirus does not take a holiday: “Day 1: Jane was exposed to Covid-19. Day 3: Jane felt well and tested negative for Covid-19. Day 5: Jane enjoyed Thanksgiving with 17 family members while contagious. Day 7: Jane developed symptoms and tested positive for Covid-19. Don’t be like Jane this holiday season.”
On Friday, we will celebrate Christmas amid the pandemic. Christmas is to Filipinos what Thanksgiving is to Americans. We celebrate the birth of Christ not just as a religious holiday but also as a homecoming event. We are expected to be home on Christmas day, a time for family reunions. The joy of the Filipino family on Christmas is intertwined with the joy of giving gifts and sharing bountiful feasts.
Amid the pandemic, we can still make this Christmas feel special. But it’s also understandable if some of us may decide to skip the festivities to protect our loved ones and ourselves. One way to safely celebrate Christmas is to take big gatherings off the table—the fewer people you invite, the less risk you pose for your family members and yourself. For those attending the Simbang Gabi (Night Mass), wearing face mask and face shield is a must. And don’t forget to keep a safe space between yourself and other people not only inside the church but also in other crowded places. It pays to be vigilant, as one social- media post said: “Maganda na makumpleto mo ang Simbang Gabi, huwag lang mawala ang ’yong panlasa pagdating ng noche buena.” (“It’s good for you to complete the nine-day series of Masses, as long as you still have your sense of taste when the Christmas Eve feast is served”).
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