The holidays are officially among us. Thanksgiving week is here, and all those who planned to travel are in fact traveling. Despite the begs and pleads from mayors, governors and health officials to stay at home, and not travel, many have not listened and continued with their Thanksgiving tradition plans to go abroad.

Without proper government restrictions, there is nothing stopping people from spending time with their families. However, at airports, those traveling saw plexiglass barriers to separate themselves from the workers. Inside the terminals, there were rapid testing sites, extra masks by check-in areas, and most papers asking passengers to quarantine once getting to their destination. 

Air travel this year is down this year, but still more than 1 million people planned treks over the holiday. That is despite the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases, and deaths racking up yet again during a second wave. 

As of Nov. 24, there were 88,000 people hospitalized across the country due to COVID-19. New daily case counts still surpassing 150,000, and most states have yet to announce another lockdown despite this uptick being worse than in the Spring. 

Many have urged to limit their indoor gatherings to no more than 10 people. If it’s more than that, officials suggest the celebrations be held outside. However, the main advice is to stay home and safe for next year’s festivities. 

To go with the rising case counts, deaths are now up to over 1,600 a day. In total, more than 268,000 people have now been killed by coronavirus in the U.S.

The crowds at the airport this Thanksgiving were the biggest the U.S. has seen since the pandemic began in March. 

All this to say, if you are traveling for the holidays, be sure to take precautions, and at the very least, wear a mask and take tests whenever possible to make sure you are not infecting anyone else.