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If all goes according to plan, the 40-year-old Yale University freshman will have gone on a tightly choreographed trip from his New Haven, Connecticut campus to ensure he doesn’t exhibit his parents at Covid-19.
Once he tests negative, after several days of quarantine, the Kerekes family will be able to live together without wearing masks or social distancing.
Welcome to the 2020 holiday season, which is more than a little busy. Take the State University of New York system, which just announced that its 140,000 students must test negative if they are to leave any of the state’s 64 schools for Thanksgiving in order to avoid the spread of the community.
With students testing positive on many campuses across the country, the goal is to mitigate the risk. This has left many parents grappling with the difficult decision of whether to tell their son or daughter to stay away from home for Thanksgiving.
Unless your student’s get-home plan is tight, infectious disease experts are urging students taking in-person classes to take shelter in place – on campus.
“If you’re on campus, you have far too real a risk of getting infected.”
Without testing, a student can be asymptomatic and bring the virus home without knowing it – with this semester’s laundry.
“This means that the first suspicion that your son or daughter is infected will be the day after Thanksgiving, which is when he or she starts to feel sick,” Osterholm said. “If your whole family has gathered for the holidays, there is a risk that everyone will get sick. It’s these small gatherings that are of great concern to us.”
Sketch out a meticulous plan
That said, if your child has to go home or their school semester ends during Thanksgiving week, the whole family needs to take concrete steps to avoid exposure to the virus.
“When it comes to Covid-19, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it,” said Iahn Gonsenhauser, head of quality and patient safety at Wexner Medical Center from Ohio State University. “It’s hard to do this right, because there is a lot to explain.”
That’s why 14 days of very strict pre-travel precautions are mandatory. “It means strict lockdown, avoiding social interaction or going to restaurants, bars and parties for everyone in the house – parents too,” said Gonsenhauser, who has helped develop Covid-19 safety protocols for them. Ohio State students. “For this to work, everyone in the family must be prepared to make this sacrifice.”
Tests should also be intelligently timed, with built-in days before and after testing to ensure there are no false negatives.
“Your student will need to quarantine themselves for three to five days before the test and then stay in quarantine until a test comes back negative,” he said. “Remember, it can take up to three days after exposure to test positive.”
Additionally, keep in mind that the return trip – whether by car or plane – should also be planned in detail.
“Your student has to take a lot of precautions,” he says. “If students have to go home, I would prefer that they drive because an airport bathroom has a lot more risk of clutter and potential exposure than, say, a rest area. In addition, a gas pump or electric charger is easier to clean with a wet wipe than an airplane seat. “
Seva Poitevin, senior at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, returns home to her parents in Rockford, Illinois for Thanksgiving. She recognizes the risks of travel, especially in light of the skyrocketing Covid-19 cases in Wisconsin, but said she has made a plan to get home safely.
“I’m going to be tested on campus two days before Thanksgiving and go home without making any stops,” she said of the two-hour trip.
It will then remain in quarantine until it is negative.
“My mother will leave food in front of my bedroom door,” she said. “I’m more than happy to do this because it will protect me and my family. In fact, I plan to do this every time I get home until there is a vaccine.
Protect the older generation
Sadly, grandparents shouldn’t be sitting at your table this year.
“I know it’s emotionally charged and painful, but the last thing we want to happen is anyone who brings the virus home to older parents,” Osterholm said.
Renee Milstein’s two daughters, who both attend Syracuse University, will be tested before leaving campus. The Milsteins’ Thanksgiving will likely be a small dinner for four, not one that usually includes the extended family.
“My mom has dementia and isn’t dating,” said Milstein, who lives in Chappaqua, New York. She wants to keep her mother safe. “I hate being a downer, but I don’t think this should be the year of a big Thanksgiving gathering,” she said.
This is also the year to think about ‘us’, not ‘me’, when it comes to spending time together, said Gosenhauser.
“If you can’t make a commitment to assure family members that each individual is out of the window of potential transmission, don’t come together,” he said.
“Remember that masking and social distancing at dinner, whether indoors or outdoors, will not be a sufficient precautionary measure. Your masks will be down as you eat and drink and it is very hard to stay behind the table set for the whole family. “
It might be a bitter pill, but in the end, the best bet might be for your student to jump the plane or train home and stay on campus.
“To be completely sure, this should be the year we celebrate Thanksgiving on Zoom,” Osterholm said. “The best gift we can all give to our families is to make sure we don’t infect each other.
Lambeth hochwald is a New York-based writer and professor of journalism at New York University who focuses on issues related to health, family, and issues important to women.
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