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Zoom will allow families to talk for as long as they like.

Remote video call service Zoom regularly imposes a 40-minute time limit on all video calls made with a paid subscription. However, in addition to business calls, Zoom is regularly used by families to keep in contact while the COVID-19 pandemic keeps them separated. In an act of holiday good will, Zoom will be temporarily removing the time limit.


Zoom announced on their Twitter recently that on Thanksgiving day, November 26, the 40-minute Zoom call time limit will be removed so families can see each other for as long as they want during the holiday. This will be especially beneficial this year, as the CDC has repeatedly urged Americans to refrain from having family visit for the holidays in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“Some people in this country are going to be able to have a relatively normal type of a Thanksgiving, but in other areas of the country, it’s going to be, ‘You better hold off and maybe just have immediate family, and make sure you do it in a way that people wear masks, and you don’t have large crowds of people,'” National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Fauci said in a previous interview with CNN.

“What we’re starting to see now — and we can’t run away from it — we’re starting to see in the Midwest and the Northwest, an uptick in test positivity, which tends to be a predictor that you’re going to have surges,” he added.

The CDC has recommended that if a Thanksgiving celebration is to be held, it should only be among family members who live together and outdoors if possible.