CDC issues official advisory against traveling for Thanksgiving as COVID-19 cases surge



As coronavirus cases spike across much of the country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its holiday guidelines recommending that people refrain from traveling for Thanksgiving and wear masks around the dinner table.

"Travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19," the agency says on its website. "Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others this year."

Instead, Americans should "consider making other plans, such as hosting a virtual gathering or delaying your travel."

For those not traveling but still planning to attend a gathering, health officials recommend that it be with only members of their immediate household — or those who have been living together already for at least two weeks.

If gathering with individuals outside one's household, the CDC advises wearing a mask and maintaining six feet of distance away from others.

"Always wear a mask in public settings, when using public transportation, and when around people who you don't live with,
the guidance continues. "Wear a mask and safely store your mask while eating and drinking."

During a news conference on Thursday, Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC's COVID-19 incident manager, relayed a grim warning for those who may ignore the warnings and decide to travel.

"The tragedy that could happen is that one of your family members, from coming together in this family gathering actually could end up being hospitalized and severely ill and die," he said. "CDC is recommending against travel during the Thanksgiving period."

Health officials at the agency also urged families of college students who are returning home for the holiday to be extra cautious because they'll be gathering with people outside of their normal communities.

The updated guidance comes as COVID-19 cases and deaths are on the rise in the country. As of Wednesday evening, the virus' death toll in America officially surpassed 250,000. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. saw its highest daily death toll in more than six months, with at least 1,707 fatalities being reported on Tuesday.

"We're alarmed," Walke added in the news conference. "COVID-19 is turning out to be quite a formidable foe."

Photos emerge of California Gov. Gavin Newsom dining unmasked with large party — and even CNN is criticizing the blatant hypocrisy



California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is under fire for photos of him dining unmasked in a California restaurant amid a group of unmasked dinner guests.

What are the details?

According to a Wednesday report from the Daily Mail, witnesses at a California restaurant said that the governor — who has instituted a wide variety of lockdown measures across the state, impacting the local economy — ate inside despite his insistence that he dined outside the restaurant.

The bombshell comes amid Newsom's newly announced restrictions California families celebrating the Thanksgiving holidays, including a demand that they eat outdoors.

The outlet reported that the event was a birthday dinner party with 12 people in attendance. The dinner took place earlier this month inside what appeared to be a crowded restaurant.

KTTV-TV obtained photos of the dinner that show Newsom and others milling about the restaurant and sitting around a table with other maskless attendees.

EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The phot… https://t.co/Py6J960zE6
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin)1605677199.0

One woman purporting to be a witness told the Daily Mail that she was dining at the French Laundry in Yountville, California, when she saw the governor dining in a private room with the other guests.

"She said a sliding glass door to the room was initially left open, but was pulled across because the governor and his party were being 'very loud,'" the outlet reported. "State guidelines for restaurants in place on the day of the dinner — November 6 — say outdoor seating must be 'prioritized' but indoor dining was allowed in small groups."

"Nobody was wearing a mask," the unnamed witness told the outlet. "It was a very large group of people shoulder to shoulder, something that he's always telling us not to do, so it was a bit annoying."

Newsom, through his spokesperson, previously insisted that the large dinner party took place outdoors and said on Monday that it was a "bad mistake."

"I should have stood up and ... drove back to my house," he said according to Fox News. "The spirit of what I'm preaching all the time was contradicted. I need to preach and practice, not just preach."

"I'm doing my best every single day in trying to model better behavior," he added.

What else?

On Wednesday, CNN's Chris Cillizza hit out at what he called the governor's "knuckle-headed" move.

Cillizza recounted the early November incident and wrote, "Unfortunately for Newsom, this episode of do-what-I-say-not-what-I-do is likely to negatively color his overall handling of the virus, which to this point had won plaudits from many — including me!"

"Newsom's apology was fulsome — and without the sort of 'sorry if anyone was offended' caveats that politicians love to lean on," he later wrote. "And California is one of the most Democratic states in the country, so it's unlikely that this error in judgment will seriously jeopardize Newsom's chances at a second term in 2022 or his future national political aspirations. (And trust me, he has future national political aspirations.)"

"But for someone who had been leading the charge on what effective government response to this pandemic looked like, Newsom's knuckle-headed decision to defy his own best practices is a bad look," Cillizza concluded. "A very bad look."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Jerry Roberts — the San Francisco Chronicle's former managing editor — added, "The tale of the governor indulging at one of the nation's most exclusive and expensive restaurants (average meal $325) — while millions of Californians are scuffling amid the pandemic's economic fallout — truly represents a real bad look."

Kayleigh McEnany blasts 'Orwellian' COVID-19 Thanksgiving restrictions



White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday blasted some state coronavirus restrictions on Thanksgiving gatherings as "Orwellian," decrying threats of arrest from some state officials for those who gather for dinner in greater numbers than the state will permit.

Appearing on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," McEnany was asked by co-host Steve Doocy about "suggestions and guidelines" issued by some governors that limit the size of private gatherings because of spiking coronavirus cases as families prepare to celebrate the holidays.

"I think a lot of the guidelines you're seeing are Orwellian," McEnany said.

She pointed Doocy to CDC guidelines on wearing a mask and social distancing before arguing that Americans, as a free people, should be trusted to take care of themselves without threats from the government.

"The American people know how to protect their health. We've dealt with COVID for many months," she continued. "But it's Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say, 'If you gather in numbers more than six, we might come to your house and arrest you, and you get 30 days of jail time.' That's not the American way. We don't lose our freedom in this country. We make responsible health decisions as individuals."

Last week, Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown announced a two-week "freeze" to slow the spread of coronavirus. The freeze went into effect Wednesday, limiting the size of at-home, social, and worship gatherings. Additionally, in-door dining has been shut down at restaurants, workplaces that are able have been ordered to mandate work-from-home, and gyms, museums, zoos, and indoor recreation facilities have been closed.

Tomorrow begins the statewide Two-Week Freeze. I know this will be difficult but Oregonians come together in times… https://t.co/uLAdFx7Ws4
— Governor Kate Brown (@Governor Kate Brown)1605655550.0

A press statement from the governor noted that "all of the freeze measures are enforceable by law upon both individuals and businesses," but emphasized that the governor is "urging voluntary compliance."

"I expect local law enforcement to continue to use an education first approach, but Oregonians need to understand that these rules are enforceable under law. A large majority of Oregonians continue to do the right thing to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their neighbors," Brown said.

"However, when Oregonians don't take COVID-19 seriously, and don't take steps to reduce the spread of the disease, they put all of us at risk. We need all Oregonians to use common sense, make smart choices, and take seriously their individual responsibilities during a public health emergency."

Violations of the governor's executive order could result in citation, fine, or arrest, but state law enforcement has been instructed to take matters that far only as a last resort, KATU-TV reports.

Doocy asked a follow-up question, noting that "nobody likes to have anybody tell people what they can and cannot do inside their houses" but that the Trump administration deferred to state and local authorities to enact coronavirus restrictions.

"Ultimately, didn't the White House say, 'Do what you want to do?'" Doocy asked.

"Yeah, of course. It's up to every state to do what they want to do, but there are consequences for those states," McEnany replied, noting that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have fled the city over the past eight months during the pandemic.

"The American people are a freedom-loving people," she continued. "We can make good decisions. We can wash our hands, wear masks, socially distance. But we can also decide in our own personal domicile, our own home, whether we can have our family members present at any given time. That is the American way. That is freedom."