COVID-19 Is Still Upending Holiday Plans —and Inspiring Some Families to Make New Ones

Julie, who is 38 and lives in North Carolina, considers herself, her husband, and their two children “zero COVID people.” Motivated by studies about COVID-19’s potential long-term effects on the body, they orient their lives around not getting the virus. That means avoiding indoor spaces where people won’t be masked, often wearing masks outside, and seeking out service providers who are still taking precautions, such as masking and using air purifiers. For the most part, Julie says, this is fine. “There’s not a whole lot we don’t do,” she says—they just do it all in high-quality masks. (Like others interviewed for this story, Julie asked to be identified by only her first name to protect her family’s privacy.) [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The holidays, however, present some challenges. Julie’s relatives are no longer willing to take the safety measures that would make her family feel comfortable gathering with them in person, she says, so her family pod will celebrate by “making better food” than usual and eating it at home. The hardest part, she says, is watching family members who were once open to isolating for 14 days before visits now forgo precautions, knowing that means Julie and her family won’t feel comfortable joining the festivities. “We’re not skipping; we’re being excluded,” Julie says. If her relatives were willing to wear good masks inside...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news