An Open Letter to Everyone Attending House Parties

It may seem like a "cool" and "fun" idea, but it's making things so much worse. 

Hi New Jersey. We've been in this pandemic for 5 months now, and I understand how difficult it is to not see your friends and family. I have not seen some of my closest friends since late February, and I think January was the last time I went to any sort of big gathering. I'm as social as it gets, so I really get how boring life can be without big parties and celebrations, but right now, everyone who is either throwing or attending parties needs to cut it out.

Before Governor Murphy capped indoor gatherings at 25 people yesterday, that number was at 100. 100, in my opinion, seemed a little high - but apparently that wasn't high enough for someone in Jackson, who NJ.com says had a 700 person party! I don't even think I know 700 people. How stupid!

To everyone considering throwing or attending a house party - do you realize that a) you don't know who you could have come in contact with before the party that may have Covid-19, and b) you could be an asymptomatic carrier, and spreading it without realizing you are even sick. To me, putting anyone at risk for the sake of basement beer pong and some laughs is completely selfish and idiotic. Not only that, but it's just going to prolong this whole thing.

We've been doing a lot better than other states - many of which have reverted to previous stay-at-home measures. Please don't blow it. Wear a mask, exercise caution when seeing the number of people we are allowed to see, and, for the love of God, don't throw a house party.