New reason for Americans to go out despite the epidemic

More than 5 million Americans travel to celebrate Christmas and New Year, despite recommendations to stay at home to avoid the pandemic.

New reason for Americans to go out despite the epidemic

One of the reasons many Americans give for taking family reunion vacations is “Because mom is worth it”. Jennifer Brownlee, 34, a fisherman from Bayou La Batre, Alabama, took a flight to Oregon to meet her mother, who lost a leg. She said her mother was worth it for her to take a flight at risk of infection during the pandemic. She wears a mask on the plane “out of respect” for other passengers and believes that she is protected by God to not be infected with nCoV.

Michelle Lopez wonders if her decision to fly from Houston to Norfolk, Virginia, where her boyfriend is serving in the Navy was the right one. She didn’t want to go, but she hadn’t seen her boyfriend for a long time. The 24-year-old female passenger last saw her boyfriend 5 months ago.

Before flying, Lopez took a nCoV test and the result was negative. But the two planes she flew on didn’t have much space to practice social distancing. Some passengers remove their masks when eating and drinking, and not everyone uses the wipes provided by the airline to clean handrails and food trays. The holiday crowds that filled Chicago’s O’Hare airport also worried Lopez. Many people do not wear masks, wash their hands properly. Lopez is a nurse and must be isolated at home for 10 days, tested for nCoV before returning to work.

Joan Crunk, 75, and her husband, Jim, 80, of Grandview, Missouri, were at the Kansas City airport in late December. They waited to pick up their daughter and her husband, who flew home from Savannah, Georgia. It has been a year, their family has not reunited. Joan said the family discussed a lot about whether to reunite on this occasion or not, because of the epidemic. The couple are worried that they are getting old, and there is no guarantee they will be able to see their children again next year.

Meanwhile, Janeen Pierre and her husband plan to bring their two children to spend Christmas at Disneyland in Orlando, Florida. But the epidemic prevented the park from operating as usual. They got their tickets refunded by Disneyland, but not the plane tickets. So the family decided to fly from North Carolina to Florida. The two young daughters couldn’t contain their excitement because they were about to visit Cinderella Castle. Still, Janeen and his wife wondered if this was a smart decision.

Americans are rushing to travel ahead of Christmas and New Year, despite advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stay home, avoiding “abetting” the pandemic outbreak. Still, more than 5 million people flew in the week before the holiday. This figure is down about 60% from the same period last year.

About 85 million Americans will travel through January 3, 2021, mostly by car. This is down by almost a third from last year, but still a huge number during the pandemic. Currently, the US has recorded 19.1 infections and more than 337,000 deaths from Covid-19.