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Happy Friday. And happy Passover to those celebrating.
Indeed, with Easter and Ramadan also coming up, we’re in a month usually meant for family gatherings. But, we’re also in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. This month is no exception for breaking social distancing, experts tell us.
Health experts caution against making plans for holidays amid the pandemic, including local family visits.
Stay-at-home regulations vary depending on the state and city you live in, but there are currently only a handful of states in the U.S. that aren’t under statewide orders.
If you’re in a less hard-hit area and plan to celebrate outside your home, officials still recommend taking extreme caution and strongly advise against gathering in large groups or attending religious services.
“Now is not a good time for mass gatherings of any kind,” said David Hamer, Boston University professor of global health and medicine. “Attending religious services is not a good idea. Large numbers of people in spaces with no or little ventilation, even with masks on, as they don’t filter everything out, and with common surfaces and areas being touched — the risk of spread is high. Services should be held remotely.”
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Alex Mahadevan is a senior multimedia reporter at MediaWise. He can be reached at amahadevan@poynter.org or on Twitter at @AlexMahadevan. Follow MediaWise on TikTok.
