SAN RAMON, California (AP) – More than a million people have passed U.S. airport security checks in each of the past two days in a sign that public health reasons for avoiding vacation travel are being ignored , despite an alarming increase in COVID. 19 cases.
It is the first time U.S. airports have detected more than a million passengers since Nov. 29. This came at the end of a Thanksgiving weekend that involved many more trips around the country than expected as the weather cooled and COVID-19 cases occurred. they were already biting again.
Now, hospitals in many areas are overflowing amid the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. since March, when most Americans were ordered to stay home and avoid interactions with other homes.
The rotating seven-day average of recently reported infections in the United States has gone from about 176,000 a day just before Thanksgiving to more than 215,000 a day. It is too early to calculate what part of this increase is due to travel and meetings during Thanksgiving, but experts believe they are a factor.
Although the blockades are no longer effective in many parts of the country, orders to stay home have returned in some areas to try to contain the virus. About 99% of California’s population, approximately 40 million people, for example, have been told to stay home, except for essential jobs, shopping and exercise.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a notice stating that “postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.”
However, approximately 1.07 million people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on Friday and Saturday again, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Saturday’s volume fell 57% from the same time last year, the smallest year-over-year drop in daily traffic at U.S. airports since Nov. 22, when people began their action getaways from thanks.
If this initial trend continues, U.S. public health officials fear it will lead to more extensive events, as people inadvertently transmit the virus to family and friends as they gather indoors to celebrate the holidays. Health officials point out that the next holiday period from Christmas to New Year’s Day covers a longer period of time than the Thanksgiving break.
Even more travel is expected as Christmas approaches. AAA projects Approximately 85 million people will travel between December 23 and January 3, most by car. That would be a drop of almost a third from a year ago, but it is still a massive movement of people in the midst of a pandemic.