VOX
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving this year, but millions of them are doing so anyway. The holiday comes as the US records all-time highs in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations nearly every day. [AP / Dee-Ann Durbin and David Koenig]
Air travel is still down more than half compared to this time last year. But US airports are the busiest they’ve been since the start of the pandemic in March, with more than three million passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints last weekend. [ABC News / Gio Benitez, Sam Sweeney, and Mina Kaji]
The country’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that airport crowds could “get us into even more trouble than we’re in right now.” [NPR / David Schaper]
Despite all the travel, the majority of Americans say they are staying home this year. The share of Americans who plan on gathering with those outside their households for Thanksgiving is highest in rural areas. [NYT / Josh Katz, Kevin Quealy, and Margot Sanger-Katz]
Even a negative Covid-19 test does not necessarily make it safe to travel. Tests are a single snapshot in time, so testing negative one day does not mean one cannot be positive the next. [Vox / Brian Resnick]