Memorial Day weekend is underway in the US, and it looks decidedly different for travelers than it was a year ago.
More than half of all adults in the United States are now fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A federal mandate stipulates that travelers on airplanes or public transport must wear masks, although most airlines at the time asked passengers to wear them. And this year, far, far more people are likely to be leaving for vacation than they were in 2020.
Darby LaJoye, the acting administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said the number of travelers at U.S. airports rose steadily in the spring, reaching nearly 1.9 million last Sunday, almost eight times the figure as of May 17, the comparable Sunday in 2020.
That number is likely to be exceeded over the holiday weekend, the latest high point in recent waves of returning travelers. The agency predicts airports will likely see two million passengers a day. Mr LaJoye said the increasing number of passengers could lead to longer waiting times at security checkpoints.
AAA, the group of car owners, predicted earlier this month that a total of more than 37 million people would cover 50 miles or more from Thursday to Monday – a 60 percent increase from a year earlier but still 9 percent below 2019. A big one Majority will travel by car.
“We will continue to see a very steady increase as we approach the summer travel season,” said LaJoye. “As vaccinations continue to rise and confidence continues to grow, the country’s planes, trains, buses and roads will be busy.”
To control the spread of the virus, the TSA has built acrylic barriers, installed new machines to allow some passengers to scan their own documents, and adjusted the rules to allow passengers to have up to 12 ounces of hand sanitizer in their carry-on bags.
A year ago there was no approved coronavirus vaccine in the United States, mask requirements were left to local officials and individual airlines, and air traffic was sparse.
Now people 12 and older can be vaccinated, and those who choose to travel have a sense of security of their own that even the most daring travelers haven’t had in the past year. (Still, travel and many other activities can be complicated for younger children and their families).
“Thanks to vaccines, tens of millions of Americans can go back to something normal and visit friends and family,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, at a press conference this week.
This year’s holiday falls at a time when parts of the world like the United States and the European Union may gradually reopen their borders and resume tourism. However, the virus continues to devastate other areas, particularly India, South America and Southeast Asia, where vaccine supplies are scarce and worrisome variants of the virus have been discovered.
Coincidentally, the average number of new cases reported in the U.S. is about the same as it was on Memorial Day last year, about 23,000 a day, although tests were far less frequent than the pandemic initially emerged. In any event, the number had fallen from a recent high in mid-April.
Last year, reports of revelers ignoring mask and social distancing rules over the holiday weekend were legion. Within weeks of some states reopening, virus cases began to surge to record levels. Jumps in virus cases have been observed after other holiday weekends, noted Dr. Walensky this week.
According to Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, is likely to see many viral outbreaks in the US look different after vacation after vaccinating many people. She said she was concerned about “micro-epidemics” in vulnerable areas.
“We could potentially focus these surges in specific communities where there are low vaccination rates and low masking rates,” said Dr. El-Sadr.
