While this holiday season is year three of gatherings for the U.S. after the COVID pandemic began, the number one priority is still the same: making sure everyone stays healthy while enjoying time together.
There are many things you can do ahead of time for your event to make sure everyone takes precautions to slow the spread of both COVID-19 and other common winter illnesses!
Here are some tips for hosting Thanksgiving this year while keeping the health of your loved ones as your first priority.
The easiest way to slow the spread of COVID-19 is knowing your COVID status! Testing for COVID-19 and other illnesses before gathering with friends and family is one of the easiest ways to add a layer of confidence that you aren’t spreading anything while seeing your loved ones in person.
If you want to be more hands-off in your planning, our 2Gather platform makes it easy to coordinate testing for your event. In the award-winning On/Go companion app, you can help your loved ones enjoy the holidays together by adding a layer of confidence while gathering.
2Gather provides fast, cost-effective, at-home COVID-19 tests to event attendees and allows hosts to conveniently manage everyone’s results in the On/Go app before the big day. It’s the safest, most efficient way to feel confident about coming together.
Follow these steps to set up your event with 2Gather in the On/Go app:
Set up your event on our 2Gather platform and start planning today.
If you or your guests aren’t feeling well or have any symptoms that could be contagious, it may be best that they stay home or attend virtually this year.
The best course of action is to talk with your guests beforehand and ensure they won’t travel if they’re feeling unwell; you can also set up a guest room with the potential for guests to isolate if they’re not feeling their best.
If you have the space (and the weather allows), opt to have your Thanksgiving gathering outdoors! Not only will this allow you to enjoy an outdoor dining experience with fresh air, but you can also use this excuse to set up a card table and invite more loved ones over!
You can either use a current or existing outdoor dining space or have a potluck of friends and family bringing collapsible chairs and tables to create a seat for everyone. There are also companies you can rent tables and chairs from, if budget allows, that can add seating to your place.
Gathering doesn’t have to be in person, especially if your loved ones live all over. With the rising costs of flying and travel, it’s now easier than ever to schedule a virtual meeting during Thanksgiving dinner to connect with your family and friends.
There are many services online that will allow you to host a virtual gathering. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and FaceTime are just some of the options available. Search online to find others that would work best for you and your event!
If you want to have both friends and family this season, think about hosting a “Friendsgiving” in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving. Having smaller groups will lessen the chance of accidentally spreading COVID-19. Plus, you’ll get the added bonus of seeing more people during the holidays without having to dust off that old plastic pop-up table from the garage!
Hosting a Friendsgiving also can allow you to be more flexible with scheduling your event. Being able to host people at your place on a non-holiday will make things less stressful and — if it’s before the fourth Thursday in November — you can test out new or complicated recipes before the official holiday.
No matter how you and your loved ones decide to gather this holiday season, there are plenty of options to choose from to keep the health and safety of your loved ones top-of-mind. From our family to yours, we hope you have a safe and healthy holiday season this year and enjoy the time with those you care about most.
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