Despite COVID Warnings, Crowds Descend on LAX for Holiday Travel
Crowds at LAX on December 22 | Mario Tama/Getty Images
Despite COVID Warnings, Crowds Descend on LAX for Holiday Travel
This year passenger traffic is a fraction of what it normally is, but health officials are still concerned about a bump in cases
With southern California’s ICU capacity plunging to zero percent due at least in part to a COVID surge brought on by a massive Thanksgiving travel spike, scores of people are still crowding Los Angeles International Airport, hell-bent on seeing family and spreading cheer (etc.) this holiday season.
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From left to right: Tim Mulroy of Rancho Santa Margarita, California; his wife, Christina; Tucker, their Aussie Labradoodle; son Liam, 13; son Levi, 5; and son Zack, 9, make their way through the Southwest Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday.
Los Angeles Times/TNS
Los Angeles Times (TNS)
Dire COVID-19 warnings go unheeded as many insist on Christmas traditions heraldmailmedia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldmailmedia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Airports are seeing steady increases in travelers determined to spend Christmas with family and friends.
Coronavirus testing centers are seeing brisk business, including from some people who want to know whether they have the virus before attending holiday events.
And last-minute shoppers are still out looking for that perfect gift.
To the alarm of California health officials, Christmas is looking an awful lot like Thanksgiving, when social gatherings put an already unprecedented surge of the coronavirus into overdrive. The Thanksgiving “super-spreader” events helped fill hospitals with COVID-19 patients, forcing more restrictions on businesses and pushing the healthcare network to the brink.