The sore throat arrived on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday, all I could stand to eat was soup.
But after testing negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday, I packed my husband, toddler and two dogs up in the car and headed south to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving. I couldn’t stand to miss the first family gathering we’d been able to RSVP “yes” to in months.
Once we made it to central Illinois, I donned the mask that I ultimately wore for most of our visit. My dad put one on, too, since he hates getting sick.
We warned other relatives about my sore throat by text Thursday morning, and everyone was still willing to come. I relished the time with my loved ones, even as I struggled to swallow all the tasty food.
Three weeks have passed since that family gathering without any of the people I came into contact with getting sick. But I’m still wondering if I did the wrong thing by going, especially since I have had multiple chances to see those same loved ones this month.
How sick is too sick to go to an important event? And has the answer to that question changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
How sick is too sick to go out?
It didn’t take much research for me to feel like a terrible person. Medical experts generally agree that if you’re feeling sick enough to question whether leaving the house is a good idea, then it almost certainly isn’t.
“People really need to think do they really want to be that selfish to maybe transmit to others? Especially if somebody is attending who is really vulnerable,” said Dr. Dean Blumberg, who leads the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, Davis, to CBS News.
As Blumberg noted, if you’re sick, your focus needs to be on vulnerable relatives, not yourself. So instead of thinking about how much I wanted to be at Thanksgiving with my loved ones, I needed to worry about infecting my pregnant sister-in-law or uncle who always takes longer to recover than the rest of us.
Although I did have my family in mind when I took a COVID-19 test, I definitely downplayed the risk of passing on some other type of bug. That attitude is common at a time when the pain of pandemic-era isolation is still fresh, said Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control for UCHealth in Colorado, in UCHealth’s guide to staying healthy during the holiday season.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to still be able to do things and enjoy the holidays. Just do it in a way that doesn’t impact others badly,” she said.
How did COVID-19 change holiday habits?
As Barron noted, most people have a different attitude about family gatherings this holiday season than they did in 2020 and 2021.
In the past two years, many families chose not to gather at all or to gather with strong safety measures in place, like mandatory testing or masking. Family members experiencing some sort of symptom — like my sore throat — would have needed to stay home.
But in 2022, most of the country is ready for life to feel normal again, which includes going to a special gathering even when you feel a little under the weather. But you shouldn’t be reckless, even if you’re longing to see your loved ones, Barron said.
“Use your common sense. If you’re sick, you don’t want to give your illness to grandma and grandpa,” she said.
Tips to stay healthy during the holiday season
If you hate the idea of missing out on a family gathering because you’re sick, then experts recommend doing what you can to avoid getting sick in the first place. Here are tips on how to stay healthy during the holiday season, which are drawn from CBS News, UCHealth and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu and get the COVID-19 booster if you’re eligible.
- Bundle up when you’re out in the cold.
- Wear a mask in crowded places, like at an airport or at the mall, in the days leading up to your family party.
- Make time for rest as you work through your holiday-related to-do list.
- Wash your hands regularly.
Should I have skipped Thanksgiving?
Now that I have all this information, I think it’s clear that I should have skipped my family’s Thanksgiving gathering this year — or at least gone to see a doctor before I went to figure out what was causing my sore throat.
I said as much to my parents when they visited us this weekend. They told me I was forgiven ... since nobody else had gotten sick.