As the United States celebrated a low-key Thanksgiving in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the US air travel, on Sunday, recorded their busiest day since mid-March, reported a CNN report, quoting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). 

According to a TSA report, more people crossed the security checkpoints on Sunday than on any other single day since the pandemic paralyzed air travel.

TSA, in its report, said it screened 1.17 million people as commuters headed home after a long Thanksgiving weekend. This was 41% of the 2.9 million people screened by TSA on the same day in 2019. “Thanksgiving 2019 set a TSA record”, CNN reported.

In numbers, it means that more than 9.4 million people have been screened in the Thanksgiving travel window.

Ever since the plummet in air travel, checkpoints have screened more than a million passengers on only five days.

Earlier, top US scientist Anthony Fauci said that America should prepare for a “surge upon a surge” in coronavirus cases as millions of travelers return home after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The United States is the world’s worst-affected country, with 266,831 COVID-19 deaths, and President Donald Trump’s administration has issued conflicting messages on mask-wearing, travel and the danger posed by the virus.

“There almost certainly is going to be an uptick because of what has happened with the travel,” Fauci said.

“We may see a surge upon a surge” in two or three weeks, Fauci added. “We don’t want to frighten people, but that’s the reality.”

The trend is ominous, Fauci and other government scientists said, with the Christmas holidays sure to bring more travel and family gatherings.