How Risky Is A Thanksgiving Gathering in Missoula?

What are your holiday plans looking like? For me, it's pretty up in the air - I bought a plane ticket to travel home for Christmas, but I'm looking at it more as a placeholder. Like, if it's safe to travel, I will, but with rising COVID numbers across Montana, it might not be the best idea.

So we're not exactly sure what's going on with Christmas, but we ALSO don't know what's happening with Thanksgiving yet, and that's just a week away! Maybe we should figure something out, but then I look at a map like this and think, "Ehh... better stay inside and have a turkey sandwich."

Montana Public Radio interviewed some health experts about the possible risk of COVID exposure in local Thanksgiving gatherings, and... it doesn't seem great. It varies by location, but if you're in Missoula and you're having a gathering of ten different people, they say that means there's a 28% chance that one of the ten are positive for COVID. If you're in Yellowstone County, that number jumps up to 36%.

The article is accompanied by a map which can show you how quickly that risk can grow, too - you can adjust any county in the country by how many people are attending an event, and it'll tell you how risky the situation is.

So if you are traveling or gathering with others this Thanksgiving, please try to keep it to a small group, social distance, wash your hands, wear a mask, all the stuff you've been hearing for months. The holidays are going to be different this year, but if we can do all that, then maybe things can actually get back to normal for 2021.