Coronavirus: what Thanksgiving reveals about Christmas risks

Fears of surge in Covid-19 cases as millions of Americans travel to family gatherings

Donald Trump seen with Thanksgiving turkey "Corn" before it was pardoned.
Donald Trump about to perform the traditional Thanksgiving turkey-pardoning ceremony
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

As the UK looks forward to a loosening of Covid-19 restrictions over Christmas, fears are growing in the US that last week’s Thanksgiving break might have been a “superspreader event”.

Infections were already rising sharply in many parts of the country before the four-day holiday, for which many Americans return home to spend time with their families.

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Holden Frith is The Week’s digital director. He also makes regular appearances on “The Week Unwrapped”, speaking about subjects as diverse as vaccine development and bionic bomb-sniffing locusts. He joined The Week in 2013, spending five years editing the magazine’s website. Before that, he was deputy digital editor at The Sunday Times. He has also been TheTimes.co.uk’s technology editor and the launch editor of Wired magazine’s UK website. Holden has worked in journalism for nearly two decades, having started his professional career while completing an English literature degree at Cambridge University. He followed that with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. A keen photographer, he also writes travel features whenever he gets the chance.