Passengers on American Airlines flights will arrive at O’Hare International Airport on February 5, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty images
The U.S. could see yet another surge in coronavirus – even as vaccinations against Covid-19 rapidly increase across the country – as states relax restrictions and more Americans travel for spring break, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Monday.
“With the warmer weather coming, I know it’s tempting to want to relax and let our guard down,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walenksy at a press conference on Monday. “Especially after a harsh winter that has unfortunately seen the highest number of cases and deaths so far during the pandemic.”
The Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, screened more than 1.34 million people on Sunday, 86,000 more people than on the same day a year ago, just after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic.
TSA impressions have surpassed 1 million every day since Thursday, get the best piece in a year. While air travel is far behind its 2019 levels, more Americans are returning to the air despite the CDC’s directions warning of nonessential travel, even those who have been fully vaccinated.
While many colleges in the US have scaled back spring break in an effort to curb partying and infection, top Biden administration officials are still concerned about travelers “enjoying spring break without a mask,” Walensky said.
“I beg you, for the sake of our country’s health,” Walenksy said at a news conference Monday. “Cases climbed last spring, they climbed again in the summer, they will climb now if we stop taking precautions as we get more and more people vaccinated.”
Even with declining infections and a rapidly expanding vaccine rollout, the US continues to report a dangerously high baseline of daily cases that could reverse if Americans let their guard down, Biden’s top health officials warned. According to the CDC, about 37.5 million people, about 11% of the US population, have been fully vaccinated in the US so far.
The US has come a long way since the beginning of January, when it peaked at just over 250,000 new cases daily, based on a weekly average. According to a CNBC analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University, the country now reports an average of 53,670 new infections daily in the past week, down 10% from a week ago.
– Leslie Josephs of CNBC and the Associated Press contributed to this report.