Is it safe to visit family in a pandemic? Your guide

Some people have been vaccinated against coronavirus, but the risks associated with spending time outside your home have not yet been completely eradicated.

“The difficult part is that at the moment I think we all still need to be vigilant in everything we do, whether we are vaccinated or not,” said Dr. Ada Stewart, a family physician at Cooperative Health in Columbia, South Carolina, said. , and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

“It does make a difference if you are vaccinated, especially if you have family members who have been vaccinated, and then everyone can meet in a different way,” Stewart said. “So there is a slight difference, but everyone still has to follow the social measures recommended by the (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).”

Follow-up vaccinations can ‘visit indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or physically distancing themselves’, the CDC said. They can also “visit people who have not been vaccinated from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distance.”
People who are fully vaccinated can visit family and friends who have not been vaccinated, but one household at a time, says the CDC official.

But there are exceptions. For example, if you are fully vaccinated and visit people who have not been vaccinated and who are at high risk for serious diseases or due to coronavirus, you should wear a mask and physically distance yourself.

Also avoid attending medium or large gatherings where you may not know the vaccination status of each person. If you are vaccinated but have children who have not been vaccinated, you should know that ‘we only need to be careful when we are around them,’ Stewart said. “Wash our hands, wash their hands, wear the masks.”

Create ways to help your children remember how to be safe, such as setting up chairs as ‘physical memories that go more than 6 feet’, said Regina Davis Moss, co-executive director of health policy and practice at the US Public , said. Health Association.

Tips for harmless adults, grandparents and children

For non-vaccinated people who want to visit harmless extended family, virtual gatherings are still the best. However, if you have not been vaccinated and you prefer a family that has not been vaccinated, everyone should be outside, wearing masks and staying at least 6 meters apart.

How vaccinated grandparents should approach visiting loved ones now - advice from dr.  Win
Whether you are indoors or outdoors, you are more likely to contract or spread coronavirus if you have a total of 15 minutes or more in close contact with people over a 24-hour period, the CDC said. So consider the amount of time you spend together and the type of activities you also do, said Krystal Pollitt, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Yale, said. School of Engineering and Applied Science. In addition to spreading coronavirus through respiratory droplets, coronavirus can also be transmitted through the air.

“Maybe you’re avoiding a meal indoors, but still do it outdoors,” Pollitt suggested. This applies to people who have been vaccinated and who have not been vaccinated – with a higher risk of serious diseases or death due to coronavirus – and in general to people who have not been vaccinated.

Grandparents who are fully vaccinated can visit one household of non-vaccinated children and grandchildren at a time, indoors and unmasked, if neither of them is at risk of becoming serious.

Grandparents who want to see unvaccinated grandchildren from different households should see the grandchildren separately or do it all outdoors to alleviate the risk, said dr. Leana Wen, CNN medical analyst, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington, said. Milken University Institute of Public Health. “They should not mix it indoors.”

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