Covid-19 has been an issue for the world all year, and the holidays will be no different. Although the number of cases dipped briefly, they spiked again in late October. With the increasing number of cases, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has enacted a mandatory shutdown for three weeks which only allows those that are considered essential to be away from home. This means that individuals that have family members who are essential workers can possibly be exposed to the virus before Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving in 2020 will be different for many families than it has been in the past since Thanksgiving is a holiday that revolves around eating and gathering together in one confined space, most of the time. For many, this will already be an issue, due to the fact that everyone does not have a house that can be used to effectively social distance. 

Science teacher Liz Michaels found herself trying to navigate the holiday with her large family gathering.

 “If we did do our normal Thanksgiving with 25 people there is no way we could socially distance twenty-five people in the small house,” Michaels said.

 While there are challenges, there have been solutions brought forward to improvise and to make a year that has already been different and tough to have a sense of normalcy to it. 

Infectious disease specialist, Mia Taormina advises that using Zoom will be the safest alternative.

“I think that it is really cool you can literally take your tv and turn it into Zoom and have that family gathering right there with you. You can even play board games, card games, trivia games,” Taormina said.

This will give families a chance to be able to celebrate their holiday together in the safest way possible.

  “Even with immediate family, your mother or father, even if you have seen these people regularly, everyone should wear a mask just out of the abundance of caution,” Taormina said.

While some are going the virtual route for Thanksgiving dinner, others are choosing the more traditional way to celebrate that they are accustomed to. Sophomore John Muller believes staying positive will allow his family to enjoy the holiday.

“We are rescheduling our Thanksgiving a little bit later than normal to see if our state can normalize the recent coronavirus spike,” Muller said. “We will be cautious every step of the way.”

To keep everyone as safe as possible, drastic changes will have to be put into effect in order to execute plans in a safe manner for families.

“Thanksgiving is all about eating so people would not have masks on,” Michaels said.

Traveling and visiting others during the holiday season may be normal for many, however, it is a risk that some may or may not take this holiday season.

“The togetherness feeling of everyone. It is very saddening that we can celebrate the same way but we must enforce all the rules and regulations to stay safe from the virus,” Muller said.