AUSTIN, Texas — America’s airports are packed fuller than they have been in months, and it's no different in Austin.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) screened 13,060 flyers on Saturday, the busiest day since March.
From Dec. 18 to Dec. 20, TSA screened more than 1 million passengers per day at airports across the country, the only time screenings have exceeded 1 million three days in a row since March.
Here's a breakdown of the Austin airport numbers for holiday travel:
- Sunday, Nov. 29: 12,248 flyers
- Friday, Dec. 18: 11,568 flyers
- Saturday, Dec. 19: 13,060 flyers
- Sunday, Dec. 20: 12,244 flyers
- Monday, Dec. 21: 11,138 flyers
- Tuesday, Dec. 22: 11,256 flyers
- Wednesday, Dec. 23: 13,205 flyers
- Thursday, Dec. 24: 8,126 flyers
- Friday, Dec. 25: 6,098 flyers
- Sunday, Dec. 27: 13,313 flyers
- Sunday, Jan. 3: 14,364 flyers
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the third busiest day at AUS since March.
Flyers are failing to heed warnings from the CDC and Austin Public Health about traveling for the holidays.
“I can only stress, as we've been saying this since last March, to make sure that you are doing those prevention activities. If you can't hold somebody else accountable for what they're doing, hold yourself accountable so that you keep your family safe during this holiday season,” Austin’s interim public health authority Dr. Mark Escott said Monday during his weekly media briefing. “Our best advice is to stay home and don't travel. We don't want to see a repeat of what we saw on Thanksgiving, particularly not when our cases are as high as they are right now.”
The pandemic is arguably worse now than it was at Thanksgiving, when the CDC warned traveling could lead to getting or spreading COVID-19.
On Thanksgiving, Texas had 1.14 million COVID-19 cases and 8,706 people hospitalized with a statewide positivity rate of 10.4%.
On Dec. 21, Texas had 1.41 million COVID-19 cases and 10,009 people hospitalized with a statewide positivity rate of 13.9%. That's the most coronavirus hospitalizations since July 26.
AAA forecasts that 2.9 million people and 162,000 Texans will fly between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3 but noted those numbers could end up being lower because of the pandemic.
If you do travel, Dr. Escott made the following recommendations:
- Get a COVID test one to three days before departure
- Consider double masking at the airport
- Be careful about what you touch during your journey
- Quarantine for seven days after returning home
- Get another COVID-19 test after returning
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