According to the latest forecast from AAA, more than 109 million people were set to travel 50 miles or further for the end of year holidays, including Christmas and New Year’s. That’s up 34% from last year, and just 8% below the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
And many more families were planning to fly this year. AAA expected that 6.4 million people would travel by plane, nearly triple the number of people who traveled that way last year.
Yet, the emergence of the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has many questioning their holiday plans, especially as there’s been more evidence that people who are vaccinated against the virus can still contract the omicron variant. As of Dec. 19, there were over 72,000 new COVID-19 cases reported nationwide, according to the New York Times COVID tracker. The number of new cases has steadily risen throughout December, and hospitalizations are also increasing.
‘The truth is the safest thing with COVID is to stay home, if that’s the only consideration.’ — Dr. Preeti Malani, an infectious disease physician and chief health officer at the University of Michigan.
In all fairness the article goes on to address mental health saying “There is a huge risk to not getting together this year,” “People have been isolated, and that is every bit as much of a risk.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/new...ays/ar-AAS0zfe
Sidebar: IMO there's always some commotion at family get-to-togethers! Someone voices and brings up an perceived slight, someone drinks a little too much liquor, etc etc! I say stay home, if possible, and deprive yourself of all that merriment