The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is strongly recommending that people stay home for Thanksgiving to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. With the holiday one week away, the agency issued a statement that taking a trip to see loved ones is simply inadvisable right now.

“Travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19,” the CDC explained in an advisory released Thursday. “Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others this year.”

The better bet, the CDC advised, was for people instead to spend Thanksgiving with the folks with whom they have been living for the two weeks leading up to the holiday.

“If people have not been actively living with you for the 14 days before you’re celebrating, they’re not considered a member of your household,” Erin Sauber-Schatz of the CDC said at a news briefing Thursday. “And therefore you need to take those extra precautions, even wearing masks within your own home.”

If you do travel, the CDC advised that you take a series of steps to protect yourself and others — including wearing a mask, staying 6 feet from others and frequently washing your hands. But the agency added: “Celebrating virtually or with the people you live with is the safest choice this Thanksgiving.” KEEP READING