Again, although air travel is only half of what it was last year, more than three million Americans boarded planes over a three-day period over the past weekend. It represented this year’s busiest three-day trip, surpassing Thanksgiving, with over a million people flying daily on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
ABC7 caught up with travelers flying in from LAX airport in Los Angeles, and the attitude of the passengers was genuinely chilling:
“I’m traveling to see my kids and my granddaughter and spent two days at Disney World, then I go back and get back to work,” said Suzi Lieber, San Diego resident at LAX.
For the first time since the pandemic began, TSA agents screened more than 1 million people for three consecutive days – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – the start of the holiday travel season. However, those numbers have decreased significantly from last year – a 57% drop.
“Life goes on. Whatever we need to keep going, it is what it is,” said Claudia Winton, resident of Clovis. “We will be careful and stay out of crowded places. The kids should have fun.”
AAA says the vast majority of travelers take to the road.
85 million people are expected to travel between December 23 and January 3, the best time for Christmas and New Year’s travel – most do so by car. However, those at LAX say they feel safe flying.
Take all safety precautions. I have been on the front line for a while before, and this is the time I needed to take a little break before going back to the front line, ”said Reggie Jones of Long Beach.
Meanwhile, a man with COVID-like symptoms died aboard a flight to Los Angeles last week.
You read it right.
These arrogant quotes are from people who flew from the same airport that a passenger who may have died from COVID-19 went last week. It seems more likely it was indeed COVID-19 as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are contacting United Airlines passengers and employees who may have been exposed during the event, said Fox 11.
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A United spokesperson told Fox 11 they had been told the man died of cardiac arrest, but passengers near the sick man and his wife overheard the surviving husband telling the emergency workers he was symptomatic and complaining of shortness of breath before boarding. went.
Some United passengers on the flight have contacted the airline via Twitter:
Another passenger who performed CPR on the man for nearly an hour now feels ‘symptomatic’
The CDC is urging Americans to stay home this holiday season or, if they must travel, get tested before boarding an aircraft and after you arrive. If you’ve been in contact with someone suspected of having COVID-19, or if you have COVID-19 symptoms yourself, please stay home – even if you have plane tickets to a nice place.
At the time of writing, COVID-19 has killed more than 318,000 Americans since March. The Washington Post put those numbers into perspective:
Despite all the efforts of some to reduce the death toll and shrug the shoulders of the steadily increasing saturation of American hospital beds, our country loses an American every 33 seconds to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that emerged last year.
Every time you listen to Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’, about five people have died from the virus between the start and the end of the song.
Stay safe and stay home.