facebook-pixel

Having people over for Thanksgiving? Utah offers tips to make your holiday safer.

(AP Photo/Larry Crowe, File) FILE - This Nov. 2, 2009, file photo shows a Thanksgiving turkey in Concord, N.H.

As Utahns prepare for Thanksgiving it is worth considering how to make the holiday as safe as possible.

For those who are hosting people from outside of their household, the state has released a series of tips for reducing the chance of spreading the coronavirus. Simple tweaks like having hand sanitizer available can keep everyone safer, according to health officials.

Gov. Gary Herbert said last week that he’d prefer people to keep their Thanksgiving small, but he removed restrictions on gatherings. Still, he is hoping people will modify their holiday in light of the pandemic as deaths in Utah mount and the hospitals remain strained.

“We know that the more people who gather together in an interaction, the closer you have a physical interaction, the longer that that interaction lasts, the more risky that situation becomes in catching or spreading COVID-19,” Herbert said.

Here are ways you can keep coronavirus off your guest list, according to recommendations released by the state:

• Make sure people who are sick or have tested positive for coronavirus do not attend.

• Sit people from different households six feet apart and at different tables if possible.

• Host the dinner outside if you live in southern Utah and the weather allows it.

• If you are eating inside, improve ventilation by opening windows or turning on a fan.

• Avoid physical contact like hugging with members of different households.

• Ask guests to wear masks when they aren’t eating. Have extra masks available in case anyone forgets to bring one.

• Limit the number of people in the kitchen when the food is being prepared. People who are cooking should wear masks.

• Have one person serve the food instead of having everyone serve themselves.

• Ask guests to wash their hands frequently.

• Wipe down and disinfect surfaces that many people touch.

• If any of your guests test positive for coronavirus after Thanksgiving, alert the other guests that they may have been exposed.