Even with all the warnings, more passengers have jammed airports on Sunday than any day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of people have traveled despite the post-Thanksgiving wave that has overwhelmed hospitals in California.
About 1.3 million passengers have passed through airport security, the most since the start of the pandemic, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The hustle and bustle of holiday travelers raises fears of a new increase in the number of 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 on coming. It’s under water. ‘
Kim-Farley fears what’s next. If there’s a spike on top of a spike, “your hospitals get overloaded, your intensive care beds become unavailable,” he said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti had a blunt warning about the fallout from the New Year’s Eve celebration. “It’s a choice you can make to save lives or take lives,” he said.
Although US health officials promised 20 million vaccine doses by the end of the year, only 11.4 million have been dispensed and 2.1 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine.
In New York, officials are investigating reports that a clinic “obtained the vaccine fraudulently” and distributed it throughout the state. Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that anyone who violates state rules on vaccine prioritization could lose their license and be fined $ 1 million.
“We want to send a clear signal to providers that if you break the law on these vaccinations, we will find out and you will be prosecuted,” said Cuomo.
In Florida, hundreds of seniors camped overnight to receive the Moderna Inc. vaccine. to get. 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 look for places. We place you in corridors. We place you in conference rooms. But ask yourself, is a bed in a conference room just as good as a bed in a regular room. Patient room? I guess?” it doesn’t, ”said Dr. Vanessa Walker, a primary care physician in California.
The coronavirus has now 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 are now requiring passengers arriving from Britain to show negative test results before boarding a plane to the US.