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Some are elderly and think they don’t have many Christmases left. Others are trying to keep the romance alive at a distance. Some simply long for the human connection that has been absent for the past nine months.
Millions of Americans travel before Christmas and New Years, despite pleas from public health experts to stay home to avoid fueling the raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 320,000 across the country.
A lot of people at airports this week thought long and hard about going somewhere and found a way to streamline it.
Jeff Chiu / AP
More than five million people passed through security checks at the country’s airports between Friday and Tuesday.
“My mom is worth it. She needs my help, ”said Jennifer Brownlee, 34, a fisherman from Bayou La Batre, Alabama, who was waiting at the Tampa airport to fly to Oregon to see her mother, who just lost a leg. “I know that God has me. He’s not going to let me get sick. “
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Brownlee said she would wear a mask on the plane “out of respect” for other passengers, but that her immune system and Jesus Christ would protect her.
David Zalubowski / AP
Travelers wear face masks while passing vehicles in the drop off area at Denver International Airport.
More than five million people passed through security checkpoints at the nation’s airports between Friday and Tuesday, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
That is about 60% less than in the same period last year. But it amounts to about a million passengers a day, or what the United States saw in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, when some Americans also ignored the warnings and ended up contributing to the increase nationwide.
Michelle Lopez wondered if she made the right decision after flying from Houston to Norfolk, Virginia, where her boyfriend serves in the Navy.
“I didn’t want to go, but I hadn’t seen him in a long time,” said the 24-year-old, who last saw her boyfriend about five months ago and was trying to maintain their relationship.
Before flying, López took a Covid-19 test that came back negative. But the two planes he took offered little room for social distancing. Some passengers removed their masks to eat or drink. And not everyone used the wipes offered by airlines to disinfect armrests and trays.
His layover at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport was equally unsettling, he said. It was full of people and it felt hot from too many bodies. Some people wore their masks under the nose. In the bathrooms, not everyone washed their hands for at least 20 seconds, Lopez said.
She works as a medical assistant in a doctor’s office. You will need to self-quarantine for 10 days at home and re-test before returning to work.
Joan Crunk, 75, and her husband, Jim, 80, of Grandview, Missouri, were at the Kansas City airport on Tuesday, waiting to pick up their daughter and son-in-law, who were flying in from Savannah, Georgia, and planned to stay with them until January 2. A year had passed since they had seen each other.
David Zalubowski / AP
Travelers at the security check in the main terminal at Denver International Airport. Millions of Americans travel before Christmas and New Years.
Joan Crunk said they talked a lot about whether to reunite.
“It is very hard and we are older. My husband is 80 years old. There is no guarantee from one year to the next, ”he said as“ Silver Bells ”played through the airport speakers.
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams encouraged people to celebrate only with the people in their homes, but added that if they cannot follow the guidance, they should take precautions, such as ensuring good ventilation in the home.
“We cannot allow fatigue to make us make bad decisions this Christmas season that end up pushing us back, especially when we are so incredibly close to getting ourselves and others to cross the finish line,” he said, referring to the start Covd-19 Vaccines .
Overall, the AAA (American Automobile Association) projected that about 85 million people will travel between Wednesday and January 3, most by car. That would be a nearly a third drop from the previous year, but it’s still a large number in the midst of a pandemic.
Janeen Pierre was juggling a pile of luggage Tuesday and taking her two girls to the bathroom at the Charlotte, North Carolina airport, before boarding her flight to Orlando, Florida.
Pierre and her husband had planned to spend Christmas on a Disney cruise ship, but the pandemic changed their itinerary to spend the holidays at Disney theme parks.
“Disney refunded all of our money, but American Airlines did not. So we’re going to have a very Disney Christmas, ”she said, adding that her daughters could barely contain their excitement about visiting Cinderella Castle.
Still, he said, “With the new strains coming out, I don’t know if this is the smartest idea.”
Doreen Lindsay, a 48-year-old doctor, was on a layover in Atlanta, traveling home to Memphis, Tennessee, from the San Diego area, where she worked with Covid-19 patients at a field hospital. She planned to be with her son during the holidays.
“We are my son and I, really. It is him and me. We have been through a lot. And he’s excited. Can you believe it? An 18-year-old man happy that his mother is coming home, ”he said.
Lindsey said the field hospital workers were isolated when they completed the task and were evaluated regularly, including up to four times in a span of four days before leaving.
As for his travels, “it’s not just ‘oh, recreation.’ I return to my house. I’m not going to another, ”he said. “The risk has to be worth the benefits.”
