Many scoffing at holiday travel warnings
Millions of Americans took to the skies and highways ahead of thanksgiving at the risk of pouring gasoline onthe coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household.
Those who are flying witnessed a distinctly 2020 landscape at the nation’s airports: glass barriers in front of the ID stations, rapid virus testing sites inside terminals, masks in check-in areas and on board planes, and paperwork asking passengers to quarantine on arrival at their destination.
While the number of Americans traveling by air over the past several days was down dramatically from the same time last year, many pressed ahead with their holiday plans amid skyrocketing deaths, hospitalizations and confirmed infections across the U.S.
Some were tired of more than eight months of social distancing and determined to spend time with loved ones.
“I think with the holidays and everything, it’s soimportant right now, especially because people are so bummed out because of the whole pandemic,” said 25-year-old Cassidy Zerkle of Phoenix, who flew to Kansas City, Mo., to visit family.
She brought snacks and her own hand sanitizer and said the flight was half full. She had a row of seats to herself.
“As long as you’re maintaining your distance, you’re not touching stuff and you’re sanitizing your hands, people should see their families right now,” she said.
The coronavirus is blamed for more than12.6 million confirmed infections and over 269,000 deaths in the U.S.
More than 88,000 people in the U.S. — an all-time high — were in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, pushing the health care system in many places to the breaking point, and new cases of the virus have been setting records, soaring to an average of over 174,000 per day.
Deaths have surged to more than 1,600 per day, a mark last seen in May, whenthe crisis in thenewyork area was easing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local authorities have begged people not to travel and urged them to keep their Thanksgiving celebrations small.
“That’ll make sure that your extended family are around to celebrate Christmas and to celebrate the holidays next year,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.
About 900,000 to 1 million people per day passed through U.S. airport checkpoints from Friday through Tuesday, a drop-off of around 60 percent from the same time a year ago. Still, those were some of the biggest crowds since the COVID-19 crisis took hold in the U.S. in March.
Last year, a record 26 million passengers and crew passed through U.S. airport screening in the 11-day period around Thanksgiving.
Thea Zunick, 40, boarded a flight from Newark, N.J., to Florida to see her 90-year-old grandmother and her parents.
“We’ve all kind of decided like it’s worth the risk,” Zunick said. “But I wanted to make sure that all the efforts that I’ve made to stay healthy isn’t undone by other people’s carelessness. Andabsolutely, I knowthat I’m taking a risk by flying. I know that, but sometimes it’s necessary.”
She isolated at home for days before the trip, got a COVID-19 test that came back negative, and made sure to choose an early and direct flight. She also masked up and layered a face shield on top.
“I felt like an astronaut, to be honest,” Zunick said.