The Coronavirus Brief will be off starting tomorrow for the coming Thanksgiving weekend, and back on Monday, Nov. 29. All the best wishes to you and yours from the health team at TIME.
Expert Advice on How to Talk to Relatives About a Second COVID-19 Thanksgiving
As a health journalist, I spend a lot of my time these days thinking about COVID-19. So when I talk to friends and family, it can be tempting to launch into the top 10 interesting pandemic facts I learned recently. That can be a ‘fun’ conversational tactic when I’m talking to someone who is equally concerned and engaged with the latest about the virus, but when I’m talking to someone who’s tired of thinking the pandemic, or who never saw it as a major threat, things can go sour fast.
So I was grateful that I recently had the chance to talk to Dr. Joshua Morganstein, associate professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Rick Hanson, a psychologist working with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, about how to have difficult conversations with family about COVID-19 over the holidays—and maybe keep me from ending up with my foot in my mouth this week instead of turkey. As I covered in an article last week, we now know a lot of methods to keep ourselves and our families safe when we’re gathering. However, those methods can only work if we’re on the same page with each person we’re gathering with—even if we don’t agree on the politics or the public health situation in general.
The biggest lesson I took away from my conversations with Hanson and Morganstein was to keep it simple. You don’t need to explain (or change) your position, as long as you can stick to the actionable items that will keep everyone at your gathering safe. Odds are that nearly two years into the pandemic, you’re not going to change someone’s mind with a speech about the public health crisis or politics. As Hanson told me, “There’s no cheese down that tunnel, right: You'll save yourself a lot of grief and those around you if you just avoid contentiousness that's not going to go anywhere.” But that doesn’t mean you can’t help work towards a situation where you feel comfortable being around your family and friends.
The key, again, is to focus on the simple, practical things everyone can do. For example, instead of fighting over whether COVID-19 is a real public health threat (it is, but let’s not focus on that), work on agreeing who will pick up the testing kits for your family.
In addition, while you might envision a perfect holiday—free of fights, burned pies and viral spread—it can help to lower the bar for what you actually can accomplish. Although the pandemic has been a unique experience for everyone, one thing that many people share is just how stressful it’s been. That’s why as you’re taking precautions to keep people safe, it’s also okay to cut yourself—and others—some slack. Thanksgiving 2021 might not look like the holiday we imagined, but we can be grateful that we’re around to see it.
More than 569 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this afternoon, of which more than 452.7 million doses have been administered, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 59% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
Nearly 258.8 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and nearly 5.2 million people have died. On Nov. 23, there were 516,682 new cases and 8,003 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded almost 48 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. Nearly 774,000 people have died. On Nov. 23, there were 92,609 new cases and 1,426 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Nov. 24, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
The World Health Organization today urged wealthy countries to share vaccines with parts of the world facing vaccine shortages before vaccinating children and adolescents. The WHO acknowledged that kids have suffered in their own ways during the pandemic, due to school closures and social isolation, for example, but argued that the priority with vaccines must be protecting people who are at higher risk of hospitalization or death—like older people, those with chronic health conditions and health workers.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the “overwhelming majority” of American who are fully vaccinated should now receive a booster shot in an interview with Reuters yesterday. Fauci, President Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, pointed to evidence that vaccine protection wanes among all age groups, saying, "That's the reason why we're very keen on getting as many people who are originally vaccinated to get a booster ... because they really do work."
The U.S. will require essential nonresident travelers crossing land borders, including truck drivers, to be fully vaccinated starting Jan. 22, the Associated Press reports. The rule will not apply to U.S. citizens or permanent residents, though those people will continue to face more cumbersome testing requirements than vaccinated travelers. The U.S. began to require vaccination for non-essential travelers on Nov. 8, but the Biden Administration decided not to immediately mandate vaccines for truck drivers and other essential travelers amid concerns about disruptions to international trade.
Lalisa Manoban,who performs as “Lisa” with globally successful K-Pop group Blackpink, tested positive for COVID-19 today, according to her production company, the New York Times reports. Manoban released her first solo album, “Lalisa,” in September; a music video for her single “LALISA” set a record on YouTube as the most-viewed music video for a solo artist in 24 hours.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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