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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 5 december 2020

Data shows Americans couldn't resist Thanksgiving travel

By STEPHEN GROVES her family to Nashville, Ten-
Associated Press nessee. It was a chance
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — for her daughter to con-
Americans couldn't re- nect with relatives as they
sist the urge to gather for shared recipes, and Graves
Thanksgiving, driving only said everyone's mood was
slightly less than a year ago uplifted.
and largely ignoring the "It was just a break to get
pleas of public health ex- away from home," Graves
perts, who begged them said. "We work at home, we
to forgo holiday travel to go to school at home."
help contain the corona- She decided to drive to
virus pandemic, data from meet extended family af-
roadways and airports ter seeing that flights were
shows. crowded and said her fam-
The nation's unwillingness ily followed guidance to
to tamp down on travel avoid spreading infections.
offered a warning in ad- But infections, even from
vance of Christmas and small Thanksgiving gather-
New Year's as virus deaths In this Nov. 25, 2020, file photo, air travelers line up to go through a a security checkpoint at Salt ings, have begun to stream
and hospitalizations hit new Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City. in around the country,
highs a week after Thanks- Associated Press adding another burden to
giving. U.S. deaths from the health departments that
outbreak eclipsed 3,100 on Light Data. dreds of thousands of ad- acknowledged that many are already overwhelmed.
Thursday, obliterating the Airports also saw some of ditional infections moving people would not heed "This uptick here is really
single-day record set last their busiest days of the from one community to that advice and advised coming at a time when ev-
spring. pandemic, though air trav- another," Dr. Cindy Fried- them to get tested before eryone's exhausted," said
Vehicle travel in early No- el was much lower than man, a Centers for Disease and after trips. Friedman Don Lehman, a spokesman
vember was as much as last year. The Transporta- Control and Prevention of- said that this year's holidays for the Warren County Pub-
20% lower than a year ear- tion Security Administra- ficial, said this week during presented "tough choices" lic Health Department in
lier, but it surged around tion screened more than 1 a briefing. for many families. upstate New York.
the holiday and peaked on million passengers on four Wide swaths of the coun- The travelers included The county concluded that
Thanksgiving Day at only separate days during the try saw a sudden influx of some elected officials who Thanksgiving gatherings
about 5% less than the pan- Thanksgiving travel period. people arriving from univer- preached against trips. or travel likely caused 40%
demic-free period in 2019, Since the pandemic gut- sity campuses in the days The mayors of Denver and of the 22 cases it reported
according to StreetLight ted travel in March, there leading up to the holiday, Austin, Texas, faced fierce in the last two days. That
Data, which provided an has been only one other according to a data vi- backlashes for traveling af- means contact tracers
analysis to The Associated day when the number of sualization of anonymous ter telling other people to have to figure out where
Press. travelers topped 1 million cellphone data from a firm stay home. people came from or trav-
"People were less willing — Oct. 18. called Tectonix. Others had no regrets. eled to and contact health
to change their behavior "If only a small percentage The Centers for Disease Trananda Graves, who runs officials in those places.
than any other day during of those travelers were as- Control and Prevention has a travel-planning compa- Lehman said it adds "a lot
the pandemic," said Laura ymptomatically infected, urged people to stay home ny in Keller, Texas, took a of legwork" to the contact-
Schewel, founder of Street- this can translate into hun- for the holidays, but officials Thanksgiving road trip with tracing process.q

World War II vet beats COVID-19, marks 104th birthday

By JAY REEVES video of Wooten wearing ing, she said.
Associated Press a face mask and waving "I don't know if that medi-
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) while workers sang "Happy cine just started working …
— An Alabama man who birthday dear Pop Pop" but within 24 hours he was
spent World War II repair- as he was discharged in a better," she said. Wooten's
ing bomb-damaged trains wheelchair decorated with blood oxygen levels are
in France recovered from a balloons on Tuesday, two good now and his lungs are
fight with COVID-19 in time days before his actual birth- "clear as a bell," McDonald
to mark his 104th birthday day. McDonald said her said.
on Thursday. grandfather, who served She said her mother re-
Major Wooten was physi- as a private first class in the covered from COVID-19,
cally drained and a little Army before going on to and so did a sister who
fuzzy mentally after bat- a postwar career with U.S. developed the illness and
tling the new coronavirus Steel in Birmingham, tested had to spend a week on a
but appears to be on the positive for COVID-19 on ventilator. In the spring, he
mend, said granddaughter Nov. 23 after her mother was hospitalized with seri-
Holley Wooten McDonald. — his daughter — got the ous heart problems and
"I'm just thankful that they illness. He received an infu- recovered, McDonald said.
were able to treat him so sion of the newly approved Wooten, a big University
quickly and we were able monoclonal antibody ther- of Alabama football fan,
to get him tested," said Mc- apy bamlanivimab but was received a video phone
In this photo provided by Holly Wooten McDonald, World Donald, adding: "It's amaz- physically drained the next call from Alabama coach
War II veteran and COVID-19 survivor Major Wooten holds a ing that a 104 year old sur- day and had to be taken to Nick Saban after that scare
celebratory milkshake on his 104th birthday on Thursday, Dec.
3, 2020, in Madison, Alabama. vived COVID." the hospital by ambulance got attention on the local
Associated Press Madison Hospital shared the day before Thanksgiv- news, she said.q