Americans hit the road and skies in near-record numbers for the Memorial Day weekend - as their excitement to break free from coronavirus confinement outweighed higher airfares, gasoline prices and hotel rates.
The Transportation Security Administration reported the highest number of travelers since the start of the pandemic, with more than 1.6 million people flying for the long weekend. The TSA had only 352,947 travelers at its checkpoints during the same time last year.
Friday also saw the lowest number of COVID-19 cases in more than a year.
The 11,976 new cases reported May 29 were the lowest since March 23, 2020, when 11,238 new cases were reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The seven-day average of 21,007 is the lowest since March 31 of last year, when it was 19,363.
COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization March 11, 2020. That day, 1,147 cases were reported in the U.S. The pandemic would infect over 33 million people and kill almost 600,000 individuals in the U.S. alone.
Within a week following the organization announcement, the number of daily TSA travelers plummeted from 1.7 million to 620,000. The figure had reached 203,000 by March 25. The daily number of fliers has stayed above 1 million since March 11, 2021.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, and 40.5% are fully vaccinated.
President Joe Biden announced earlier in May that his administration's goal is to reach 70% of adults with at least one dose by July 4. He also said that by the same date, he wants 160 million American adults to be fully vaccinated.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's chief medical adviser, has repeatedly stated that he wants to see daily case counts fall below 10,000 before easing safety measures.
