(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — With the nation surpassing over 205,000 COVID-19 fatalities on Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed concern that Thanksgiving gatherings could potentially become super spreader events, further exacerbating the nation’s ongoing battle to contain the novel coronavirus.

In order to prevent a grim new projection, where the CDC predicts up to 298,000 Americans will be dead by December 12, the organization is strongly advising against Thanksgiving travel.

The CDC previously predicted 250,000 dead by Thanksgiving — a number that the nation crossed on Wednesday. 

Due to accelerating rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths, the CDC says Americans should not travel for the holidays.

“The opportunity to translocate disease or infection from one part of the country to another leads to our recommendation to avoid travel at this time,” said CDC COVID-19 incident manager Dr. Henry Walke.

The U.S. also recorded its “deadliest day” in over six months, where the nation reported its highest amount of daily deaths during the peaks in April and July.  On Wednesday, 1,869 Americans lost their battle to the infectious virus.

Fatalities are up by 76 percent since last month and the nation is averaging 1,200 COVID-related deaths a day.

As of Thursday, the nation has confirmed nearly 11.7 million COVID-19 cases and 252,290 deaths.