More people traveled through U.S. airports on Wednesday than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic took over the nation in March, the TSA said.
Just days before Christmas, security officers examined 1,191,123 people at U.S. airports on Dec. 23, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said, the highest in a single day since March 16, when 1,257,823 passengers passed through TSA checkpoints.
The increase in air travel comes despite requests from health officials to stay home and avoid travel during the holiday season amid a steady increase in COVID-19 cases.
Still, Wednesday’s performance was just 61 percent of the number of people who went through TSA researchers on the same day in 2019.
Air travel has been well below usual levels throughout the pandemic. As the blackouts took off around the world, TSA agents examined up to 90,000 people in several days in April.
Air travel began to increase in late April and has continued to increase steadily since then. Last weekend marked the first time since March, where more than a million people attended the U.S. airport on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to TSA data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging Americans not to hold family holiday celebrations as the coronavirus continues to spread.
“People who do not currently live in your housing unit, such as college students returning home from school on vacation, should be considered as different families,” according to the agency’s guidelines.