Thanksgiving Travel Barely Decreased Despite Pandemic

[DonViejo]

December 4, 2020 at 9:10 am EST By Taegan Goddard

“Americans couldn’t resist the urge to gather for Thanksgiving, driving only slightly less than a year ago and largely ignoring the pleas of public health experts, who begged them to forgo holiday travel to help contain the coronavirus pandemic, data from roadways and airports shows,” the AP reports.

“The nation’s unwillingness to tamp down on travel offered a warning in advance of Christmas and New Year’s as virus deaths and hospitalizations hit new highs a week after Thanksgiving. U.S. deaths from the outbreak eclipsed 3,100 on Thursday, obliterating the single-day record set last spring.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2020/12/04/thanksgiving-travel-barely-decreased-despite-pandemic/

[Hugin]

1. I had read elsewhere it was only down about 20% from last year.

Nice to see you DonViejo. I hope you are well.

[Klaralven]

4. Airline traffic was down about half. Auto down only a little.

[Hugin]

6. Mixed news...

Maybe the travel was somewhat limited to regional and between isolated pods.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

2. More often than not lately...

I have been truly baffled by how our species made it this far.

[Hugin]

5. It all boils down to reproductive strategy.

Just ask Chuck.

[Mariana]

7. Covid-19 is having very little effect upon the gene pool

since most of the people who die of it are older and have already reproduced, or not, as the case may be.

[Hugin]

8. True.

But, here we were talking about how the Human species made it this far in general.

[DonaldsRump]

3. The title in the Political Wire reprint of portions of the AP article is misleading

When I first read it, at least for airline travel, I couldn't believe it. So many airlines have mothballed their aircraft in the desert and generally cut back on flights in 2020. In addition, many airlines are leaving seats empty. That's why I was surprised when I read the title. There's essentially no way that airline travel this Thanksgiving could be remotely comparable to the same time in 2019.

However, if you go into the AP article, it says this, which seems more accurate:

Airports also saw some of their busiest days of the pandemic, though air travel was much lower than last year. The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1 million passengers on four separate days during the Thanksgiving travel period. Since the pandemic gutted travel in March, there has been only one other day when the number of travelers topped 1 million — Oct. 18.

(emphasis added)

[Blues Heron]

9. Americans don't respond to "pleas" they require a little more bite

Something with teeth in it - a fine or some jail time etc.

You can't count on much altruistic community minded behavior from this mob - they need to be trained like dogs basically.