Even with all the warnings, more passengers jammed airports on Sunday than on any day since the coronavirus pandemic began. Millions of people traveled, despite the post-Thanksgiving surge that overwhelmed California hospitals.
About 1.3 million passengers went through airport security, the highest number since the pandemic began, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The holiday crowd is raising fears of another increase in coronavirus cases.
“I think we are now in a viral tsunami,” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It just keeps coming. It’s flooding.”
Kim-Farley fears what lies ahead. If there is one peak after another, “your hospitals are overloaded, the beds in your intensive care unit are unavailable,” he said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti had a direct warning about the consequences of celebrating on New Year’s Eve. “It is a choice you can make that will save or take lives,” he said.
Although US health officials have promised 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year, only 11.4 million have been distributed and 2.1 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine.
In New York, officials are investigating reports that a clinic “fraudulently obtained” the vaccine and distributed it across the state. Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that anyone who violates state rules on prioritizing the vaccine could lose their license and face a $ 1 million fine.
“We want to send a clear signal to providers that if you violate the law on these vaccines, we will find out and you will be prosecuted,” said Cuomo.
In Florida, hundreds of elderly people camped overnight to receive the vaccine from Moderna Inc. In California, the outbreak is so severe that the US military is sending dozens of doctors and nurses to help.
“We will take care of you. We will find places. We will put you in corridors. We will put you in conference rooms. But ask yourself, a bed in a conference room is as good as a bed in a common room. I don’t think so, “said Dr. Vanessa Walker, a first-rate doctor in California.
The coronavirus has already killed one in 1,000 Americans.
There is also growing concern about a new strain of the virus in the UK that appears to be more contagious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now require passengers from Britain to present negative test results before boarding a plane to the United States