Families face difficult decision to spend Thanksgiving apart due to COVID-19

Many families are making the difficult decision not to have large Thanksgiving gatherings this year due to the risk of spreading coronavirus.

News 12 Staff

Nov 13, 2020, 11:04 PM

Updated 1,480 days ago

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Many families are making the difficult decision not to have large Thanksgiving gatherings this year due to the risk of spreading coronavirus.
Jake Leone says his seat at his family's dining room table will likely be empty.
As a Connecticut college student, he's been checking the infection rate back home on Long Island before he makes the trip.
There is a tool to see what the risk is of coming into contact with an infected person. Georgia Tech researchers created an "event risk assessment planning tool" based on where you are going and how many people will be at the gathering.
If you are heading to a 10-person Thanksgiving dinner in Orange and Westchester counties, the risk of exposure is 10%. Rockland is at 14%, Putnam is 8%, Duchess is 6% and Ulster is at 4%.
With health officials pointing to Halloween parties as a likely source of spreading the virus, they continue to encourage residents to follow the safety guidelines this holiday season.