‘Please, change your plans’: In KC, there’s still time to make this Thanksgiving safe
The local branch of the Salvation Army won’t be hosting an in-person Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in decades.
“It’s all being delivered to homes,” said Major David Harvey, divisional commander for the Kansas and Western Missouri Salvation Army. About 50 volunteers, he says, will soon fan out across the city bringing food to those who need help.
“That’s just one of the challenges of the COVID crisis that’s hitting us,” he said. Other charities have similar plans.
Lots of holiday traditions, from a meal with friends and family to a big outdoor lighting ceremony on the Country Club Plaza, are falling victim to the strange virus that has changed all our lives. That’s made some people angry.
But this fact is inescapable: Gatherings of almost any size this Thanksgiving are still dangerous and should be avoided. “Celebrating virtually, or with the people you live with, is the safest choice this Thanksgiving,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
“Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others,” the CDC said.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is more blunt. “Please, change your plans,” he said. “I’ve had 35 Thanksgiving turkeys in my lifetime. I can wait until next year for turkey 36.”
That may mean an empty seat or two Thursday at your table. Without such precautions, those seats could be empty forever.
Evidence of the danger is everywhere. Two Kansas City firefighters recently died of COVID-19, and hundreds more have been sick with the disease. Overall, Kansas City has recorded more than 250 COVID-19 deaths this year.
Nearly 3,700 Missourians have died from the virus. More than 1,400 Kansans have succumbed.
Hospital officials say patients are crowding their facilities — the University of Kansas Health System reports more than 100 COVID patients, and the number is rising. In Missouri, the health care challenge is so acute that Gov. Mike Parson is thinking about building field hospitals in rural areas.
Parson’s coronavirus message is at odds with his hands-off approach to a statewide mask mandate, which is indefensible but a reality. Parson at least is wisely changing his own Thanksgiving plans and said last week you should, too. He’s right.
In Kansas, county officials must decide by Wednesday if they want to implement their own mask orders or leave their residents at risk. Schools are returning to distance learning after the holiday, facing staff shortages and student illness.
Local teachers, health care workers and first responders need our help. Wear a mask, and stay home on the holiday. That’s a small sacrifice to protect people working to exhaustion to protect us.
This isn’t getting through to everyone. An estimated 180,000 people are expected to travel through Kansas City International Airport during the Thanksgiving holiday, a scary number. There is anecdotal evidence that front-porch parties and weekend bar-hopping remain a thing.
Some Kansas Citians are wearing protective masks, but many are not. Making a political statement about masks is fun until you get sick, or someone else gets sick. Ventilators restrict freedom, too.
Local and state health officials are doing their best to limit exposure to the coronavirus, but they can’t be everywhere. No one is coming to the door on Thanksgiving to break up your family reunion. Protecting yourself, and your family, and your neighbors, is largely up to you.
It doesn’t make anyone happy to contemplate a canceled Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. “It diminishes the in-person contact and fellowship and encouragement that can take place around a table,” Major Harvey said.
But remember: While Thanksgiving is a holiday on the calendar, it’s also an idea. Gratitude and grace will survive a canceled dinner, or a missed slice of pie. There’s always next Thanksgiving, if we take care of ourselves now.
“I know we’re all eager to reunite with our friends and families, but the big celebration can wait,” Lucas said.
Imagine the joy a year from now if we beat this pandemic and can be together again in 2021.