Surgeon General Warns 12 States: ‘Things Aren’t Looking Up for Thanksgiving Dinner’

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Monday warned 12 states that “things aren’t looking up for Thanksgiving dinner” as the federal government continues to fight the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

In a tweet, Dr. Adams suggested three precautions to take to against the virus — mask-wearing, hand-washing, and social distancing — to increase the chances of what he described as having a “safe” Thanksgiving holiday. He directed the note of caution to Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Dr. Adams’ tweet comes after Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, suggested that Americans may have to cancel their Thanksgiving plans to help reduce the spread of the virus.

“I think people should be very careful and prudent about social gatherings, particularly when members of the family might be at a risk because of their age or underlying condition,” Dr. Fauci replied when asked what Americans should do to celebrate Thanksgiving.

“You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless you’re pretty certain that the people that you’re dealing with are not infected,” he added. “Either they’ve been very recently tested, or they’re living a lifestyle in which they don’t have any interaction with anybody except you and your family.”

U.S. officials aren’t the only ones floating the possibility of canceling holiday time with family. British Epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, who left his post after violating his own lockdown restrictions, said “people will die” if families are allowed to celebrate Christmas day together.

“Some people will die because of getting infected on that day,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Sunday. “But if it’s only one or two days, the impact is likely to be limited. So that is really a political judgment about the cost versus the benefits.”