Americans, millions of whom traveled against the advice of public health officials, tried to stay safe before attacking with their families for Thanksgiving, a holiday transformed by the pandemic as the number of cases and deaths increases.
Lily Roberts, 19, said COVID-19 was tested at San Francisco International Airport before traveling home to Marin County, Northern California.
“I’m not worried about that because I’m not in danger,” Roberts said. “However, because of my parents, I follow the rules and precautions.” That’s why they test because I don’t want to bring it into my home. “
Thanksgiving journeys traditionally involve highs and lows, but are even fuller this year as travelers strive for social distance while navigating in crowds.
Lexi Cusano, 23, said Wednesday that she met people on the road from Miami to Hartford, Connecticut, who were too close to airport terminals, some not wearing masks or not wearing them improperly.
“It was just a little overwhelming and very shocking to me that people just – couldn’t move within a 6 meter radius without hitting someone or inhaling with a man next to you,” he said. – He was just a little crazy.
He said the passengers did not behave in a safer way on the plane.
“People just hung without masks,” said Cusano, who recently took a job in Miami. “I saw them walking back and forth from the bathroom, down the hall, without a mask, and I was with him, that it’s a little ridiculous right now.”
“You know, people are usually afraid of flying planes, ‘Are we going to crash?’ “He added.” But today it sounded more like, “I’m breathing the same air that was circulating here, and people are just very irresponsible.”
Things seemed a little tight in front of Juan Mojuta, who flew to Wilmington, North Carolina, Arizona, Wednesday night.
“The first flight was very claustrophobic,” Mojuta told WWAY-TV. “A lot of people. Very collected. But the second flight wasn’t that bad.
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 12.7 million Americans have been diagnosed with the virus since the start of the pandemic, and the death toll has exceeded 262,200.
The data show that the seven-day rolling average of new daily cases in the U.S. has risen from 127,487 on Nov. 11 to 175,809 on Thursday over the past two weeks. The seven-day rolling average of new daily deaths rose from 1,044 to 1,658 during this time.
Millions of Americans have landed in the sky and on highways before Thanksgiving, despite warnings and calls from elected and health officials in many states to stay home and make festive gatherings smaller than usual.
Cusano said he was tested at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut after landing and awaited his results in two to three days.
Regardless of the test results, he said he would be quarantined in Connecticut for a month or two to make sure that if he became infected during the holidays, he would not infect anyone. He works as an operations manager for a media company and can do the job remotely.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear in two to three weeks. Some can cause more serious illnesses, including pneumonia and death, especially in older adults and those with pre-existing health problems.
__
Peters reported from Milwaukee. Haven Daley, an AP journalist from San Francisco, contributed.
