This again is a topic that’s difficult to give a hard answer at this time. Best practice? Honestly, stay in your own home. Why? Well, there is some thought that asymptomatic people are driving the spread of this disease. Also, remember, our testing has not caught up to the burden of disease in the United States, and many of us believe that it’s pretty much everywhere. That means that you may have caught it on that trip to the grocery store, not know it, and take it to your family member, even though there are only 3-4 of you in the house.
You absolutely should not go if you feel even remotely ill–headache, fatigue, sore throat, diarrhea–right now, we are still learning how it presents, and it has presented in all these ways. Err on the side of caution. If you are a young person wondering if you should visit your older mom or dad, and you’re going to work every day–you shouldn’t. If anyone in the house is unable to fully socially distance for whatever reason–healthcare worker, airline worker, grocery worker, etc., they really shouldn’t be taking in home visitors. They are at higher risk than others.
However, this may go on for longer than we anticipate. And reality is that we are going to want to see our loved ones. The current recommendation is to maintain gatherings of fewer than 10 people, and if we can maintain social distancing (6 feet away) most of the time, and make sure to wash our hands frequently and not touch our faces, you will significantly reduce the risk of spreading the illness among your family members. This article may explain why even small gatherings can propagate spread of the virus.
Also, you’ll need to drive, not fly. And along the way, make as few stops as possible, and wash your hands and wipe down the surfaces in the car with a cleaner that is shown to kill SARS-COV-2. You should also change your clothes and shower once you arrive, if you made stops along the way.
This is not going to be easy for a while. But we want to protect each other–particularly our loved ones. So hang in there!