HARRISBURG – You may want to begin reconsidering having holiday gatherings this year, and that includes even small gatherings with people you know…That’s the latest advice from Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine during a news conference Monday, “We need to think about more and more gatherings being virtual, or only staying with your family that you live with, that you’re exposed to all the time. That sacrifice could me no one gets sick in your family, so even though that’s a really challenging concept, that’s what’s being recommended by the CDC.”
Dr. Levine says that also includes people who are considered close friends or even extended family members, especially when precautions are not being taken, “Even people who are part of their social circle…because we have seen increasing number of cases linked to small gatherings of people who may even be familiar with each other but they’re not masking, they’re not washing their hands, and they’re not social distancing.”
As far as travel, the Department of Health continues asking residents to adhere to its recommendations of quarantining for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania from 25 states. In Monday’s update, the Department of Health did not add or remove any states originally on that list.
