Coronavirus News Update – March 22: Air Travel at Pandemic High

Pre-pandemic passengers at the gate

On Sunday, air travel in the U.S. reached an all-time high during the Covid era. According to data from the Transportation Security Administration, more than a million passengers traveled through U.S. airports for 11 days in a row, including over 1.5 million on Sunday. The news comes despite the fact that cases where the patient has the British variant of the disease, B.1.1.7, are rising across the country.  The increase has led some health officials to predict another surge due to more people traveling and transmitting the variant.

As of Monday, the world has recorded almost 124 million Covid-19 cases since the first cases in December 2019 and it has seen over 2.78 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such data.

Since the start of vaccinations at the end of last year, the world has administered more than 448 million doses, the equivalent of 5.8 doses for every 100 people.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 81.2 million people in the United States, or roughly 31.5% of the population over the age of 18, have received at least one dose, including over 44 million people, or 17.1% of the same population, who have received both doses. Overall, 13.3% of the population has been fully vaccinated against the virus.

In Miami Beach, the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed over the weekend has been extended for up to three weeks. Just last Friday, Mayor Dan Gelber called his city a “tinder” and declared a state of emergency due to the “overwhelming“ crowds, The measures are to counteract the thousands of spring breakers who have flocked to the city, much like last year, against health experts’ advice and pleas to avoid large crowds. The action follows an incident on Saturday night, during which police had to resort to firing balls of pepper spray into crowds of hundreds of mostly maskless people who had defied the 8 p.m. curfew and stayed out in the streets. Police said they had arrested at least 12 people.

Following a Phase III trial of its coronavirus vaccine, AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine has “100% efficacy against severe or critical disease and hospitalization.” The news comes after several European countries temporarily suspended use of the vaccine due to concerns over potential, though rare, side effects, including blood clots. The vaccine is 79% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, the drugmaker said.

India is currently experiencing a second wave of infections, with the government reporting approximately 47,000 new cases on Monday, as well as 212 deaths. The case numbers are the highest in four months, and less than 3% of the population has received a vaccination.

The founder of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain, Kent Taylor, committed suicide last Thursday after battling with post-Covid symptoms. His family said that one of the issues Taylor was dealing with was “severe tinnitus,” a condition that leaves victims perpetually hearing ringing or other noises in their ears.

A first-round March Madness basketball game between Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Oregon was cancelled on Sunday after multiple members of the Virginia team tested positive for Covid. The game was ruled a no-contest, with the University of Oregon advancing to the next round by default.

Anna Breuer contributed to this story.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)