Most Americans WILL attend Christmas gatherings this year despite Covid spikes across the country
MOST Americans will attend Christmas gatherings this year despite a spike in Covid cases across the country, a survey has revealed.
Nearly 61 per cent of people asked said they planned to attend a festive gathering, according to a survey of 1,040 people carried out in November by Cinch Home Services.
Only 26.1 per cent said they were not planning to do so while 60.9 per cent said they would.
Authors of the survey said: “Over a third of the people surveyed said they believe socializing is worth the risk of someone contracting Covid-19.
“After months of limited contact with loved ones, it’s understandable that some might be eager to see loved ones.
There have been concerns throughout the pandemic about the effects of isolation and loneliness on specific populations, particularly the elderly.”
“The Covid-19 pandemic has given people a lot of things to be concerned about, especially when it comes to socializing,” the authors also noted.
“Varying opinions on appropriate precautions to take and anxiety around infection have made gathering together a lot more tense than it used to be.
“However, a majority of people said they still intended to see loved ones, particularly as the holidays draw near.
“Plus, many people reported taking a variety of precautions and agreed on the appropriateness of rules like social distancing and keeping gatherings outdoors when possible.”
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has warned against having unnecessary Christmas get-togethers after Covid-19 cases rose by at least 18 per cent since Thanksgiving.
Critics have accused Dr Fauci, 79, of trying to “cancel Christmas” for millions of families.
You don’t have to cancel things; you can still spend time with your family. I’m just asking people to be careful when it comes to travel that may not be necessary
Dr Anthony Fauci
Dr Fauci though told Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer he wasn’t attempting to “cancel” Christmas but merely asking Americans to be particularly cautious.
“I’m not saying that everyone should cancel the family gathering, I’m saying that people will need to make individual choices,” Dr Fauci said. “When you’re talking about having a congregate setting for a dinner – not cancel the family aspect.”
“You have some Christmas dinners [where] people bring friends and others in who travel from different parts of the country. You could have 15, 20 people at a dinner,” Fauci continued. “That’s really somewhat risky. You can do a modified version of that.”
“You don’t have to cancel things; you can still spend time with your family. I’m just asking people to be careful when it comes to travel that may not be necessary, travel that you can avoid, and when you get together, try to make some limitation to it.”
“I’ve heard and seen tweets saying, ‘Fauci says cancel Christmas,’” Fauci added. “Nonsense. I’ve never said that.”
The survey comes just two days after the FDA gave the Moderna vaccine “emergency use authorization”.
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On Thursday, the nation saw its second deadliest day since the outbreak of the pandemic with 3,438 deaths being reported by the Covid Tracking Project.
December has been the second deadliest month of the pandemic after April.
The US has recorded a total of 17,736,942 cases since the outbreak began with 314,043 people dying from the virus.