© Provided by Eat This, Not That!Dr. Anthony Fauci and Mark Zuckerberg online interview.
The latest COVID surge is well under way and expected to worsen in the coming weeks, as the impact of Thanksgiving holiday celebrations will manifest itself in an increase of infections, hospitalizations, and even death. As we enter into the holiday season with Christmas, Chanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve ahead, it will become increasingly important to look out for the health of yourself and others. During a Q&A with Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci reveals the one piece of advice he has for avoiding the highly infectious virus over the holidays. Read on, and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci Recommends You Diminish Travel and Stick to Your Immediate Family Unit
Admitting that it doesn't "sit well" with the family customs of Christmas, New Year's, and Hanukkah, Fauci suggested closing your home to immediate family only and avoiding travel. "If I recommend one thing is, diminish to the extent possible travel and keep gatherings indoor to the immediate family unit, to the extent possible," he said.
This includes not allowing people traveling from other states into your home, or having a friend of a friend who brings a friend over. "Try to keep the home environment as much as possible confined to the immediate family unit. That seems to be unfortunately the antithesis of the Christmas, the New Year, the Hanukkah season," he continued. "You really want to bring friends, the warmth, the fireplace, the people sitting down together. Unfortunately, that's the perfect setup for people who might have no symptoms and innocently and inadvertently come into the home and infect someone."
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Dr. Fauci Says: Take an Inventory of Your Personal Risk
He also offered another bit of advice - for everyone to take a serious inventory of their own personal risk. "Each family needs to do a risk benefit, determination." This would include asking questions such as "Do I have in my home, an elderly person, a person who's immunosuppressed, maybe a woman with breast cancer was on chemotherapy, a man with prostate cancer on chemotherapy, a child with an immune deficiency?"
"If you do, do you really want to take the chance of exposing that person to something that might not allow them to have future Christmases and New Years and Hanukkah?" Fauci continued.
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How to Stay Safe
Observe Fauci's fundamentals: Wear a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with, practice good hand hygiene and, to protect your life and the lives of others, and don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.