LEXINGTON, Ky. — We are less than 24 hours away from being at the dinner table and eating turkey, many college campuses including the University of Kentucky have already begun their Thanksgiving breaks.
University of Kentucky’s campus is practically deserted on the day before Thanksgiving, that is because they have started their Thanksgiving break on the busiest day to travel of the year. UK senior Reagan Smith is not traveling very far because he is from Lexington, he is considering how to safely gathering with his family to avoid contracting the virus.
“All of my family will be in person so right now it will probably be 10 or less people. So just kind of keep it to a small gathering and do things as safely as possible,” said Smith.
The Smith family is fully vaccinated but even with small gatherings there are still risk factors. The CDC says those risks factors include: number of COVID-19 cases in your community, exposure during travel, setting of the event, length of the event, number and crowding of people at the event and behavior of attendees during an event. Smith says he is conscious about protecting his family during the holiday season and that is something he practices everyday on campus.
“Whenever I am inside a campus building here at UK, I am always wearing a mask which is just with in compliance with our campus policy of that. Then I try to avoid large crowds if at all possible,” said Smith.
Other UK students have family members that are on the other side of the country. Nigel Taylor is a UK Ph.D. student who is from Boston. Taylor has flown during the pandemic but still has some worries about the risks of gathering.
“The mask did not come off you know what I am saying when I was on the plane, ain’t no way I’m taking the mask off. I was thirsty, I did not drink anything but I think now that I am vaccinated I think I am a little bit more comfortable with it but I am still going to be very very cautious,” said Taylor.
The reason why Taylor is concerned is because of his parents. His parents are older, and could be more susceptible to complications from COVID-19, so he is staying in Kentucky to help keep his parents safe.
“You know for them [my parents] it could be really dangerous so if I did end up getting COVID-19, even if I know I would be OK, going home and potentially bringing it to them [my parents] would be very scary,” said Taylor.
Although Taylor is not traveling home he is planning for a small gathering with friends in Lexington, it is clear people all over the world have had to alter their plans for the “new normal.”
“It is kind of hard to think about like we have been in for a long. What was quote on quote normal I guess before? What were some of the traditions, some of the things we may be missing out on. But at the same time I think we have all learned how to adapt,” said Smith.
Holiday gatherings have continued to evolve as the pandemic wears on, with Christmas right around the corner, families will once again have important decisions to make. Fayette County remains in the orange zone for current COVID-19 cases, with a 22.2 case rate per 100,000 people.