Since mid-March, COVID-19 has swept the country and it is unlikely that the pandemic will be over anytime soon. In the duration of the past eight months, over 14 million Americans have contracted the virus and almost 300,000 have died.

It has only been two short weeks since Thanksgiving, a national holiday that brings families together has passed and COVID cases are raging across the country. According to KHOU-11 news, Houston has recently broken a single-day record with 2388 cases in a single day. The U.S total is close to 200,000 new infections every day, a peak that has reached higher than ever before.

“With the holiday season moving in, the increase in COVID cases is no surprise,” senior Caitlin Ngyuen said. “ Though the most ideal thing would be not to have gatherings at all, it’s understandable for families to still want to be with one another.”

However, family gatherings were not the only reason for the surge in COVID cases. According to Barron’s news, over seven million Americans traveled the week of Thanksgiving which has contributed greatly to the increase of cases.

“I think it is really sad that the numbers are rising again but it is also expected that a lot of people went out of town for vacation or to visit family,” senior Elizabeth Chirko said. “I think that it is important for us as a community to remember that life is not back to normal so we should be considerate and take safety precautions each time we go out to help slow the spread of the virus.”

With the Christmas holiday coming up shortly, there is a great fear of an even greater rise in cases come January. According to Bloomberg, COVID is projected to be the cause of death for 30,000 more people in mid-December, directly before Christmas.

This means that the surge after both Christmas and New Year’s will cause even more deaths and destruction. According to BBC News, the US death toll could reach 400,000 by the end of January. Experts are recommending that Americans limit traveling as much as possible to slow the spread of the virus.

“I think that it is fine to celebrate the holidays with close family, as long as they have had COVID tests done and people are staying safe.” Thompson said, “Even though this is a time to be with loved ones and to give people joy, we still need to make sure that it is done in a safe way.”