Gathering with your friends, family and loved ones sounds ideal until it comes to posting on social media asking others to pray for their health.

Or far worse, until it’s time to mourn over a loss.

That Friendsgiving doesn’t look so good in retrospect, does it? How about traveling across the state or country to see your loved ones for Thanksgiving? That doesn’t look too good, either.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has issued a temporary ban on outdoor dining and Gov. Gavin Newsom has implemented a new stay at home order. And truth be told, we had it coming.

We’re in a pandemic, and many have chosen to risk not just their lives, but the lives of so many others.

The selfishness, entitlement and recklessness of those who have consistently chosen to head out to brunch, for a drink or a party, especially young people, has resulted in Los Angeles County shattering records in COVID-19 cases and deaths daily.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the Department of Public Health confirmed 7,593 new cases of COVID-19 in LA County via a news release. This number of cases broke the previous daily record of 6,124, which stood for roughly a single week.

The Union’s Editorial Board urges younger members of our population to stay home for the holidays, unless it is absolutely essential to leave the house.

A trip to the grocery store, picking up a plate from your local restaurant or even exercising the right to protest necessitate the “essential” label, being that there are little to no virtual alternatives for these tasks.

We understand that for some people, it is hard to comply with social distancing and mask-wearing mandates, as well as the sheer fact that many do not feel they should be held accountable to what authorities recommend.

However, the numbers don’t lie. On Nov. 1, the Department of Public Health reported 309,190 total COVID-19 cases in LA County, including figures from Long Beach and Pasadena. On Dec. 1, this tally ballooned to 408,396. Roughly a quarter of total COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the span of one month.

We are aware that for young people, it is easy to succumb to the notion that the virus won’t affect or have any dire consequences on them. While a younger person with a strong immune system may have the luck of being asymptomatic, the possibility of transmitting the disease is still likely.

In LA County (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena), confirmed COVID-19 cases among people between the ages of 18 and 49 totaled 229,533. Over half, 59.1% to be precise, of cases in the region are attributed to those between 18 and 49.

We get that it’s not easy for some people to stay home during these troubling times. Essential workers on the medical frontlines, food service and grocery market employees, have faced the brunt of carrying out their duties. These jobs are made harder by those who fail to comply with health guidelines recommended by officials.

The Union’s Editorial Board knows how much of a mental grind it is to be working from home. We aren’t particularly fond of doing most of our work remotely, much less at the fact we have course requirements to fulfill for our grades, as well.

For El Camino College students who are dealing with the stress and fatigue of sitting through Zoom sessions, or feeling trapped from constantly being at home, the Student Health Services Center offers an array of resources.

Trust us, we wish we didn’t need to write this editorial. We wish everything could resume like normal. And we look forward for that day to come, but everyone must do their part in ensuring each other’s safety rather than resuming things as if they are normal when they just aren’t.

Stay home. Wear a mask. Don’t believe that you are invincible. There’s no fun in celebrating the holidays from a hospital emergency room or while burying the ones you love.