Holiday airport travel spurs fears of another virus surge
Expert’s advice: ‘ We really need to have some shared sacrifice’
Hundreds of thousands of people are traveling through the Bay Area’s airports this holiday season despite health officials’ pleas for people to stay home — prompting fears that another surge in COVID-19 cases could be just around the corner.
Though many people are heeding the warnings and forgoing travel this month, as evidenced by huge dips in airport activity, others are strapping on their face masks and boarding planes. The longing to see family was too great to ignore, they say. So they altered plans, left grandma and grandpa off the guest list and quarantined before leaving in an effort to make their trips as safe as possible.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry. I totally agree with that,” said 28-year- old Mila Givens, who arrived at Oakland International Airport from Las Vegas on Tuesday. “But at the same time, I just miss my family too.”
In California, nearly 9.4 million people are expected to travel during the December holiday season — nearly 576,000 of them by air, according to projections by AAA Northern California. That’s down from more than 15 million total travelers at this time last year. But some health experts worry it’s still too many.
“I’m very concerned that we
tian Church in 1970.
“We’ve had up to like 120 households come in one day,” Gonzales said.
T he client ba se ha s changed in other ways du r in g t he pa ndem ic , from the working poor and very low-income families or individuals to people from all walks of life who are struggling and trying to stay afloat, she said.
“They are coming in for food because they can barely make ends meet, because their hours are cut or they have been laid off,” Gonzales said. “We’ve even had people who used to donate to us actually come to us for help.”
The Davis Street Community Center has received funding this year from Share the Spirit, an annual holiday campaign that serves disadvantaged residents in the East Bay. Donations will help support 41 nonprofit agencies in Contra Costa and Alam
eda counties.
The organization plans to use the donations to support its beloved Holiday Basket program, which for more than 40 years has provided food and gifts for families in the area.
“It’s a big deal in San Le
andro,” Gonzalez said. “Everyone knows about it and everybody tries to get in it. If you ever come down here, you will see a line of cars — before 8 in the morning — people lined up to get their stuff.”
This season, organizers
plan to enroll 1,000 families to receive baskets, with gift cards given out due to COVID-19 concerns, instead of other types of gifts typically given to each child.
That means that once again, Gina Harris’ son Oliver has a chance at a very merry Christmas.
“During the holidays, ( Davis Street) really helps me as a single mom,” Harris said. “Just paying the bills all by myself — and then having to figure out how to get presents for holidays, especially Christmas? They help me out a lot during that time.”
Thanks to Davis Street, Harr is said, there are more gifts for Oliver to open under the Christmas tree.
“When he wakes up in the morning and sees all that, his face just lights up,” she said. “And that makes me so happy.”