The Transportation and Security Administration announced its highest daily screening volume since March on Wednesday.
Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman, wrote on Twitter that more than 1 million people traveled through TSA checkpoints on Wednesday, the highest recorded volume since March 16.
“JUST IN: Yesterday, Wednesday, Nov. 25, @TSA screened 1,070,967 people at checkpoints nationwide,” Farbstein wrote. “It’s the highest volume since March 16 and only the 4th time passenger throughput has topped 1 million since that date. Last year 2,602,631 people were screened on Thanksgiving eve.”
JUST IN: Yesterday, Wednesday, Nov. 25, @TSA screened 1,070,967 people at checkpoints nationwide. It’s the highest volume since March 16 and only the 4th time passenger throughput has topped 1 million since that date. Last year 2,602,631 people were screened on Thanksgiving eve.
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) November 26, 2020
Although the number of screened travelers accounts for the highest volume since March, it still pales in comparison to the more than 2,600,000 people who traveled on the same date in 2019.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised against travel during the holiday season.
“Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu,” the CDC said.
Last weekend, the TSA screened more than 3 million travelers. Over the same three-day stretch in 2019, the TSA checked an average of 2,355,435 people.
“More than 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last 7 days,” the CDC wrote in a statement issued last Thursday, a week before Thanksgiving. “As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.”
Close to 13 million people have tested positive for the virus in the U.S., and more than 260,000 have died from complications arising from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.
