Thanksgiving travelers try to reach destinations, miss virus



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Americans, millions of whom have traveled against the advice of public health officials, tried to stay safe before curling up with their families for Thanksgiving, a holiday remade by the pandemic as the number of cases and the number deaths are increasing.

Lily Roberts, 19, said she was tested for COVID-19 at San Francisco International Airport before returning home to Marin County in northern California.

“I’m not worried because I’m not at risk,” Roberts said. “However, I respect the rules and precautions because of my parents. That’s why I’m getting tested because I don’t want to take it home. “

Thanksgiving travel traditionally comes with its ups and downs, but it’s even more difficult this year as travelers try to distance themselves socially while cruising in crowds.

Lexi Cusano, 23, said on Wednesday she encountered people standing too close at airport terminals, some not wearing masks or not wearing them properly, on the way from Miami to Hartford, in Connecticut.

“It was just a little overwhelming and very shocking to me that people were just – you couldn’t move within a 6 foot radius without hitting someone or breathing with someone next to you,” she says. . “It was just a little crazy.”

She said travelers were not acting safer on the plane.

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“People were just hanging out without their masks,” said Cusano, who recently took a job in Miami. “I saw them come and go from the bathroom, down the aisles, with no masks, and I was like, it’s kinda ridiculous now.

“You know, the main fear that people usually have on airplanes is, ‘Are we going to crash? », She added. “But today it was more like, ‘I breathe the same air that goes around here and people are just very irresponsible.’ So that was the main horror.

Things seemed a little tight to Juan Mojuta who flew to Wilmington, North Carolina from Arizona on Wednesday night.

“The first flight was very claustrophobic,” Mojuta told WWAY-TV. “Lots of people. Very crowded. But the second flight wasn’t that bad.

More than 12.7 million Americans have been diagnosed with the virus since the pandemic began earlier this year and deaths have exceeded 262,200, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Data shows that the seven-day moving average of daily new cases in the United States has increased over the past two weeks, from 127,487 on November 11 to 175,809 on Thursday. The seven-day moving average of daily new deaths increased from 1,044 to 1,658 during this period.

Millions of Americans have taken to the skies and the highways ahead of Thanksgiving, despite warnings and calls from elected officials and health officials in a number of states to stay home and keep holiday gatherings smaller than usual.

Cusano said she was tested at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut after landing and was told to expect results in two to three days.

Regardless of the results of her tests, she said she plans to quarantine herself in Connecticut for a month or two to make sure that if she gets infected during the holidays, she won’t infect anyone else. She works as a COO for a media company and can do the job remotely.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, which go away within two to three weeks. For some – especially the elderly and people with existing health problems – it can lead to more serious illnesses, including pneumonia and death.

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Peters reported from Milwaukee. AP reporter Haven Daley contributed from San Francisco.

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