{"id":267825,"date":"2020-09-05T06:17:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T10:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=267825"},"modified":"2020-09-05T06:17:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T10:17:44","slug":"will-labor-day-weekend-bring-another-holiday-covid-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/09\/05\/will-labor-day-weekend-bring-another-holiday-covid-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Labor Day Weekend Bring Another Holiday COVID Surge?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The country\u2019s top health official has encouraged governors to keep restrictions in place to avoid another holiday-related surge. (File photo: United Nations COVID-19 Response\/Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hopefully, summer won\u2019t end the way it began. Memorial Day celebrations helped set off a wave of coronavirus infections across much of the South and West. Gatherings around the Fourth of July seemed to keep those hot spots aflame.<\/p>\n

And now Labor Day arrives as those regions are cooling off from COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned Wednesday that Americans should be cautious to avoid another surge<\/a> in infection rates. But travelers are also weary of staying home \u2014 and tourist destinations are starved for cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting away for an hour up the street and staying at a hotel is like a vacation, for real,\u201d says Kimberly Michaels, who works for NASA in Huntsville, Alabama, and traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, with her boyfriend to celebrate his birthday last weekend.<\/p>\n

Lifting Restrictions for Summer\u2019s End<\/strong><\/p>\n

In time for the tail end of summer, many local governments are lifting restrictions to resuscitate tourism activity and rescue small businesses.<\/p>\n

Nashville, for instance, gave the green light to pedal taverns this week, allowing the human-powered bars-on-wheels to take to the streets again. \u201cThey\u2019re not Nashville\u2019s favorite group, frankly. But fairness requires this protocol change to take place,\u201d Mayor John Cooper said<\/a>, noting the city\u2019s dramatic reduction in new cases. This week, the city also raised the attendance cap on weddings, funerals and other ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Virginia Beach<\/a> tried to get some leniency for its struggling restaurants over the holiday weekend. But Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam rejected<\/a> pleas from the mayor, at the encouragement of Fauci. The country\u2019s top health official has encouraged governors to keep restrictions in place to avoid another holiday-related surge.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, as we start to lift restrictions, the impression that people get is \u2018Oh, that must mean it\u2019s safe,\u2019\u201d says epidemiologist Melissa McPheeters of Vanderbilt University. \u201cWe want to make sure we don\u2019t give that impression, because this disease has not gone anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some communities have gone the other direction and reimposed restrictions, especially for the three-day weekend. Santa Barbara<\/a>, California, has banned sunbathing to avoid another surge in cases.<\/p>\n

Schooling Screws Up COVID Circles<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a new X-factor with summer\u2019s last holiday weekend. In many states, schools have resumed in-person classes. So families and friends meeting up are now more likely to expose each other to the virus, even if they tried to keep a tight circle over the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf those bubbles now have kids that went back to school and are interacting with others or they\u2019ve gone back to sports and the bubble has since expanded, that ability to be safely together in a gathering is probably less likely,\u201d says epidemiologist Bertha Hidalgo of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.<\/p>\n

And yet, getting together safely \u2014 preferably outdoors \u2014 is still worth a try, Hidalgo says. She says people\u2019s mental health needs a boost to get through the next few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can do the safe things now before winter hits and that cold weather hits, then you\u2019ll be more resilient to get through any bad times that may come,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In drivable destinations like Nashville that have welcomed visitors throughout the pandemic, tourism has not bounced back entirely. But on some weekend nights, the neon-soaked tourist district can draw a crowd.<\/p>\n

This week, Vaj Vemulapalli and his girlfriend, of Dallas, turned back to their hotel after feeling uncomfortable with how tightly people were packed together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe crave the social interaction, the going out to bars and everything,\u201d he says. \u201cBut at the end of the day, our general stance is it\u2019s not worth getting [COVID-19] just to get a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those crowds have limits, though, as Kimberly Michaels and birthday boy Marcus Robinson discovered. They arrived in Nashville fashionably late, masked up and ready to responsibly party. But after they checked into their hotel, they discovered that everything has to shut down by 10:30.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy. It was like the twilight zone,\u201d Robinson says. \u201cWe went in [to the hotel], the streets were full. Got dressed, come downstairs. Like, where did everybody go? Like, did something happen? But we didn\u2019t know, because we\u2019re not from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, as time goes by, some travelers are willing to take more risks to get back to activities that feel normal.<\/p>\n

Suzette Ourso lives outside New Orleans and flew to Nashville for her first out-of-town trip since the pandemic hit. She says she\u2019s cautious, wearing her mask whenever near anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep hand sanitizer in my purse now. That\u2019s something I\u2019ve never really done before,\u201d she says. \u201cBut you can die tomorrow riding in your vehicle. So you can\u2019t live your life in fear, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ourso has a trip to the beach planned for later in the month.<\/p>\n

This story is part of a partnership that includes Nashville Public Radio<\/a>, NPR<\/a> and Kaiser Health News.<\/em><\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a> to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.<\/p>\n

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