Once again, the novel coronavirus has thrown the United States another curveball: how to celebrate Thanksgiving during a pandemic. As temperatures have dropped across the country, especially here in Minnesota, the majority of activities have been moved inside, facilitating the spread of the virus even more rapidly than before, leaving many Americans puzzled as to how they can safely carry out their Thanksgiving traditions. 

In a typical year, many families host large numbers of people ranging from babies, to college students, to grandparents. Though, this year’s Thanksgiving is going to be far different for most people, as there are more necessary precautions that need to be taken to protect the health of loved ones. “Our plans are 100% different this year. In a normal year, we would not think twice about spending time with as much family as possible because holidays often bring people together, but with Covid everything has changed and everything has to be thought about more than once,” junior Cate Duffey said. 

Though Duffey’s family is not the only ones affected by the virus, everyone’s plans are experiencing setbacks, including senior high math teacher, John Groess. In regular years, Groess usually spends his holiday at a gathering with his mom’s side of the family, but in this atypical year, “I am going to go to my family cabin in Wisconsin for the week of Thanksgiving. I will probably be there by myself and have a Zoom meal with my family. We are still trying to figure out if my parents and I will see each other based on if we can get tested and quarantine,” Groess said. 

Duffey and Groess are both experiencing the major dilemma of how many people to spend Thanksgiving with, and if the risks outweigh the benefits associated with spending time in large groups of people. Health Advisors at the Minnesota Department of Health are cautioning Americans, especially Minnesotans, about spending the holiday with people outside of their immediate households, regardless if they are family members or not. “[I will be spending Thanksgiving with] at most two people, my parents, but it is also equally as likely that I will be spending it alone,” Groess said.  

Unfortunately, Duffey will probably be doing the same, “We will probably have a very small gathering at my house, and potentially it will only be my mom, stepdad, and me,” Duffey said. 

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is filled with copious amounts of family time, but for senior high theology teacher, John DeLozier, not only is his family time affected this year, but also his volunteering. “We have [in prior years] volunteered to serve dinner at the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Paul and San Francisco, who run a home for the elderly poor, which we obviously can’t do this year,” DeLozier said.