Mas Tadesse is thinking about flying to San Diego. Her close friend, a recent widow, lives there, and Tadesse was there last Christmas to support her friend and her twin daughters. If it weren’t for the coronavirus, Tadesse says she would certainly be there again this year. And after months of isolation, she is thinking it might be worth taking on the risk of flying — with precautions like a mask and face shield — in order to get together with loved ones.

“I’ve also been in my house pretty much since March, with the exception of going out to exercise,” Tadesse said. “What I mean is I get groceries delivered, I’ve seen no friends, no family. I’ve had funerals … that have been on Zoom. It’s been a really tough year. So for my mental health, I just feel like I will strongly consider getting out of town and going and supporting my friends.”

As she stood in line at a public testing site in Northwest D.C.’s Pleasant Plains neighborhood on Monday, Tadesse was still unsure of her holiday plans. If her coronavirus test comes back positive, she says, she will of course stay in her house by herself. But if it comes back negative, she’s considering making that trip to San Diego.

“I’m still weighing my circumstances,” Tadesse said. “I might do it in February or March and just be home for the holidays by myself.”

The line to get tested stretched down the block. People were there for a mix of reasons: Some were concerned about potential exposure. Others were getting tested ahead of planned holiday travel — despite the consistent guidance from local officials who advise against it.

For Tadesse and others in the line, staying put for months on end feels unsustainable. So they are thinking about traveling, with precautions: Getting tested, driving instead of flying if they can. They know they can’t entirely eliminate the health risk — but nine months into a pandemic, they say they are also taking their social needs into account, too. And while local officials have been consistently discouraging travel and holiday gatherings, some have also acknowledged that when guidance is too rigid, that can also lead to bad public health outcomes.

Testing has been a common and widely available pre-travel strategy for many locals, particularly with test turnaround time in D.C. holding steady between two and three days.

The numbers bear this out. More folks are getting tested now throughout the holiday season than they did in the summer and early fall. For example, the 7-day average of new tests taken in D.C. on October 16 was about 4,800. In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, the average of new tests taken in D.C. was nearly 8,000. As of December 22 and leading into the Christmas holiday, the 7-day average is almost 6,000.

Health experts say that testing is one way to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus, but it does not eliminate the risk of gathering entirely and should not replace wearing masks, distancing, and quarantining.

“You can do everything you can to move that yardstick of safety a little bit in your favor,” said D.C. resident Michael Triozzi while in line Monday at the Pleasant Plains testing site. He planned to drive to North Carolina to meet up with family, assuming his test came back negative. “But there’s that knowledge that it’s imperfect. There’s that knowledge that it’s risky, and that’s … troubling in a lot of ways.”

In the weeks following Thanksgiving, coronavirus cases have continued to trend up both regionally and nationwide. However, it remains unclear how much the holiday played a part in the increasing cases. As the New York Times reported, the so-called nationwide “Thanksgiving effect” may have only reinforced trends as opposed to beginning new ones.

Maryland hit a new daily coronavirus case record on November 19 — five days before Thanksgiving. That followed a steady increase since the fall. In D.C., one of the highest case counts since the start of the pandemic was on Thanksgiving Day with 220 new cases. This likely correlates with nearly 13,000 people being tested on the holiday, the highest number since testing began in the District.

Localities are responding by tightening some restrictions across the region. Last week, D.C. announced a halt on indoor dining beginning on December 23 and continuing through January 15. Libraries and museums will also close. Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties also prohibited indoor dining, at least for a few weeks while further limiting capacity at retail businesses, gyms, and places of worship.

While significant, it’s not as comprehensive or restrictive as the stay-at-home orders issued by D.C, Maryland, Virginia back at the end of the March. This, despite community spread far beyond what it ever was in the spring.

Natalie Talis, a population health manager at Alexandria Health Department, said the record-setting spike is worrisome, especially given locals’ desire to travel.

“That is really concerning for us looking at all of the December holidays, because people want to gather,” she said. “And we know that gathering is what leads to the spread of more COVID.”

The convergence of the worst coronavirus surge yet with the holiday season is complicating the messaging strategy for public health officials. Some are hammering home the message they’ve been emphasizing from the beginning — stay home and socialize only among immediate household members — even if many community members aren’t complying.

“We know that people are sick of hearing from us right now to not gather and not to do all these things,” Talis admitted. “But we just can’t say it enough.”

In addition to the new restrictions, local officials are doubling down on their messaging from the Thanksgiving holiday, warning people about the potentially fatal consequences of gathering indoors with people outside your household.

In a video message last week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asked residents to “celebrate the holidays at home with your immediate household,” which mirrored her guidance ahead of Thanksgiving. Montgomery County is also continuing to tell people not to travel and to limit indoor gatherings for the Christmas holiday.

Others are trying to give locals at least some tools and tips for how to celebrate safely — and acknowledging the emotional burden of isolation during the holiday season.

In Alexandria, Talis says the health department is still primarily emphasizing guidance to stay home and not travel. A holiday brochure put out by the department offers suggestions to people planning to tell friends and family that they won’t be joining in-person holiday celebrations.

“Acknowledge feelings of disappointment and expect emotional responses,” the department recommends. “Explain that your decision is out of love for yourself and those you care about.”

But the same flyer also has guidance for what precautions people should take if they are determined to travel, including hosting only outdoor gatherings, wearing masks, limiting the number of guests, and writing down the names and contact information for attendees in case someone later tests positive.

Talis says the department is trying to empower people to make good personal decisions — not shame them for wanting to see loved ones or terrify them with dire warnings, both of which could lead to people disengaging from public health guidance or even not cooperating with contact tracers.

“I personally believe that hope and feeling empowered is a much stronger motivator than fear and shame to doing anything. And so our messaging has always been straightforward that there is an element of personal responsibility here,” she said. “But we certainly don’t want people to be paralyzed with fear, to feel ashamed, because that just leads people to retreat away from the conversation.”

And she acknowledged the emotional toll the holidays can take, even without the burden of a pandemic.

“We’re really concerned, not just about people being sick with COVID, but the impact that this will have on people’s mental health,” she said. “So we’re really trying to message that people should look out for themselves.”

Dr. Jessica Smedley, a licensed clinical psychologist who works with clients and also led the D.C. Psychological Association’s COVID-19 task force, said she thinks local public health officials are “doing the best they can” with messaging, “given the circumstances of how this virus has been handled.”

The issue, Smedley said, is that the public health crisis has by its very nature exacerbated isolation, stress, depression, and anxiety.

“I just don’t think we’re in an optimal situation where mental health and public health are perfectly aligned,” said Smedley. And in that non-optimal situation, “people are choosing whatever their safety protocols for their specific lives might be.”

Christina, a D.C. resident, was in line to get tested at the firehouse on Sherman Avenue on Monday. She said she wasn’t not sure the mayor’s guidance on travel had been effective.

“Whatever the D.C. government says, everyone knows they’re not going to enforce it,” she said “They say that ‘if you go to Pennsylvania, you must quarantine when you get back.’ Nobody does.” (Guidance from Bowser says that residents must either limit daily activities for 14 days after returning to the city from travel or limit activities for 3 to 5 days and then get a coronavirus test, though Bowser has said the rules would not be strictly enforced and were intended more as a tool for private institutions to manage travelers.)

Christina doesn’t have holiday travel plans: She attended counter protests to oppose the Proud Boys and Trump supporters who rallied in D.C. earlier this month, so she was getting tested as a precaution (She declined to share her last name because she did not want to publicize her involvement in those counterprotests.).

“It’s been hardest for me not being able to see my grandparents in Iowa,” she said. “They just turned 89 this year, and I know they’re not getting any younger. But I also know that I cannot visit them safely right now.”

Smedley said she is encouraging her clients to set small goals for themselves this holiday season, and to try to create new holiday traditions or adapt old ones to these abnormal times. Some clients have had success with doing virtual game nights and other activities over Zoom — even if many people are “Zoomed out.” And Smedley also encourages people to go analog and make handwritten cards or messages to send to loved ones they can’t connect with in person.

Above all, she said, “Give each other grace and patience … we are all essentially doing the best that we can.”