The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging Americans not to travel for Christmas to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The plea comes amid reports of rising numbers of infections of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 and follows the Atlanta-based agency’s request last month that Americans not travel for Thanksgiving.
''The best thing for Americans to do in the upcoming holiday season is to stay at home and not travel,'' Henry Walke, the CDC's COVID-19 incident manager, said during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. ''Cases are rising. Hospitalizations are increasing. Deaths are increasing. We need to try to bend the curve, stop this exponential increase.''
Newsweek quoted the CDC and other health officials on Wednesday as saying the Thanksgiving holiday could push death rates to more than 3,000 a day by Dec. 19.
Walke’s request comes as the CDC issued new recommendations for someone traveling. The guidance is for one to be tested one to three days before departing and three to five days after arrival. People who do not get tested should cut down on nonessential activities for 10 days after travel.
The seven-day average of daily new cases of novel coronavirus infection have trended lower since Nov. 25, when they reached a high of 179,943, to 164,761 as of Tuesday, according to worldometers.info.
However, Tuesday saw the single-day number jump to 184,184.
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