With Thanksgiving finally arriving, students should know how to stay safe, especially with temptations from Black Friday and Thanksgiving dinner traditions. It is important to meet with friends and family while reducing the spread of COVID-19.

As health and wellness reporter Cory Stieg wrote on cnbc.com, after Canadian Thanksgiving on Oct. 11, public health officials saw an increase in COVID-19 cases, which they attributed to the holiday gatherings.

In order to prevent such situations in the United States and our local community, it is important to stay aware and up-to-date with the latest official health and safety guidelines concerning the holidays.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “celebrating virtually or with members of your own household (who are consistently taking measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19) poses the lowest risk for spread.”

The CDC defines a household as people who live together in the same house or apartment, not necessarily a family. In-person gatherings with people of different households pose varying but higher levels of risk depending on multiple factors.

Unless the gathering is strictly of people from the same household, all attendees should wear masks the whole time and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Of course, individuals who diagnosed positive for the virus or are experiencing symptoms should not host or attend any in-person gatherings.

“I will celebrate with my family inside, following social distancing rules and video calling my extended family,” sophomore Krish Arora said. “I will meet my friends online, maybe playing ‘Among Us.’”

Guests should wash their hands with soap thoroughly or hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Commonly-touched surfaces and shared items should be cleaned and disinfected between each use, according to the CDC.

The safest option is not having any sort of physical gathering, so the CDC suggested various alternative activities including watching TV with family, finding a fun game to play and shopping online.

Thanksgiving can still be a fun and bonding time for family and friends, without risking the spread of COVID-19.