TSA screened 1.1M travelers the day after Christmas

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened more than 1.1 million travelers on Saturday, the day after Christmas, despite pleas from public health officials for individuals not to travel amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

TSA confirmed that it screened 1,128,773 travelers on Dec. 26. The number falls short of the 1,191,123 travelers who passed through airport checkpoints on Dec. 23. 

Dec. 23 brought the most travelers through airport checkpoints since March 16, when 1,257,823 people were screened.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and top health officials called on Americans not to travel during the Thanksgiving holiday or around Christmas in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci earlier this month urged Americans to “Stay at home as much as you can, keep your interactions to the extent possible to members of the same household.”

“This cannot be business as usual this Christmas because we’re already in a very difficult situation, and we’re going to make it worse, if we don’t do something about it,” Fauci told The Washington Post.

The United States reported 225,930 coronavirus cases on Saturday and 1,646 fatalities. The country has reported over 19 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.