More people traveled through US airports on Wednesday than on any day since the COVID-19 pandemic took over the country in March, the TSA said.
A few days before Christmas, security agents scanned 1,191,123 people at American airports on December 23, said TSA spokesman Lisa Farbstein – the maximum in a single day since March 16, when 1,257,823 passengers passed TSA control points.
The increase in air travel occurs despite calls from health officials to stay home and avoid travel during the holiday season amid the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases.
Still, Wednesday’s transfer rate was only 61 percent of the number of people who passed TSA’s trackers on the same day in 2019.
Air travel has been well below usual levels during the pandemic. As the strikes occurred around the world, TSA agents examined up to 90,000 people over several days in April.
Air travel began to increase in late April and has continued to increase ever since. This past weekend marked the first time since March, when Friday, Saturday and Sunday saw more than a million people enter American airports, according to TSA figures.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging Americans not to hold holiday celebrations among families as the coronavirus continues to spread.
“People who currently do not live in their housing unit, such as university students who are returning from classes for the holidays, should be considered part of different families”, according to guidance from the agency.