40% in U.S. planning large gatherings for holidays despite COVID-19 warnings

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Nearly 40% of U.S. residents plan to participate in gatherings of 10 or more people this holiday season despite concerns over the spread of COVID-19, according to the findings of a survey released Thursday by Ohio State University.

In addition, one-third of respondents said they wouldn't ask attendees at holiday parties with family or friends to wear masks, and just over 25% indicated that they wouldn't practice social distancing, the data showed.

"We're going to look back at what happened during this holiday season and ask ourselves, 'Were we part of the solution or were we part of the problem?'" Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser, part of the team that conducted the survey, said in a statement.

"When you're gathered together around the table, engaged in conversation, sitting less than 6 feet apart with your masks down, even in a small group, that's when the spread of this virus can really happen," said Gonsenhauser, chief quality and patient safety officer at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Researchers at Ohio State surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. residents on their holiday plans in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 10.5 million people nationally have been sickened by the virus, and more than 240,000 have died, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

In recent weeks, federal, state and local public health officials have advised against traveling or partaking in large social gatherings as the holiday season approaches to limit the risk of spreading the new coronavirus to vulnerable loved ones.

At the very least, they've asked that gatherings not happen without wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, or staying 6 feet apart.

Those at risk for severe COVID-19 include the elderly, as well as those with diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, all of which are common across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Still, 38% of respondents to the Ohio State survey indicated they would host or attend a gathering with 10 or more people during the holidays and 33% would not ask others to wear masks, the researchers said.

However, 73% of respondents said they would practice social distancing during the holidays and 79% suggested that they would celebrate or gather only with people with whom they live, the data showed.

Just over 80% indicated that they would ask family and friends invited to events not to come if they had symptoms of COVID-19.

"If you have someone in your household who's high risk and you're in a low incidence area, you're going to want to think twice about having a celebration where people are coming from an area where there's a lot of virus in the community," Gonsenhauser said.