A member of the New York Army National Guard will hand out health forms to travelers at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York, USA, on Thursday, December 24, 2020.
Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images
US air travel hit its highest level since mid-March on Saturday, raising fears that the spike in vacation travel will result in another surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths in the coming weeks.
Even as the coronavirus rages across the country, 1,192,881 people passed airport security checks on Saturday, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Air travel is still down significantly from previous years, but has risen over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays despite warnings from health experts and elected officials to limit travel and family gatherings.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that the pandemic could likely get worse in the coming weeks, as the US experiences a delayed impact from post-Christmas holiday travel.
“This is what is happening. It’s awful, it’s unfortunate, but it was predictable,” said Fauci, one of the nation’s top infectious disease experts, in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
December was the most deadly and contagious month of the US pandemic. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, an average of more than 2,600 die every day.
Three states have now also found cases of the new, more transmissible coronavirus strain in people with no travel history.
Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on Sunday urged Americans to wear masks and social distance to help dampen the expected rise in infections.
“What we’re doing now is important,” Adams said during an interview on CNN. ‘If you met outside your household without a mask during the holidays, there are still measures you can take now.’
“You can still quarantine yourself. You can still get tested, knowing that over 50% of the spread is now among asymptomatic people,” he added.