Millions of American travel and gather for Thanksgiving, despite COVID warnings

Coronavirus case rates are spiking throughout the United States, and the CDC has issued guidance that says the best way to avoid spreading the virus is stay home and not do Thanksgiving gatherings with anyone from outside your immediate household. Americans are largely ignoring these warnings, and we can expect COVID-19 rates to reflect this in the coming weeks.

"About 1 million Americans a day packed airports and planes over the weekend even as coronavirus deaths surged across the U.S. and public health experts begged people to stay home and avoid big Thanksgiving gatherings," AP reports,

And the crowds are only expected to grow. Next Sunday is likely to be the busiest day of the holiday period.

To be sure, the number of people flying for Thanksgiving is down by more than half from last year because of the rapidly worsening outbreak. However, the 3 million who went through U.S. airport checkpoints from Friday through Sunday marked the biggest crowds since mid-March, when the COVID-19 crisis took hold in the United States.

Many travelers are unwilling to miss out on seeing family and are convinced they can do it safely. Also, many colleges have ended their in-person classes, propelling students to return home.

We are so screwed.