Coronavirus Special Report
Year Three: Feb. 19-25, 2022
Year Three: Feb. 19-25, 2022
Read all about it! U.S. Coronavirus deaths top 944,000 as the national vaccination rate sticks around 65%. Boston drops its proof-of-vaccination rules and Los Angeles County ends its mask mandate. England drops all Coronavirus restrictions. Ireland drops masking requirements. The EU advises member nations to end Covid entry rules and testing and Italy drops them effective March 1. The DOT says 2021 air traffic was 27% below 2019's record total; passengers skewed more domestic than ever before. Washington-area airports were around 60% of 2019 volume. Atlanta/Hartsfield was about 68%. An exception? Austin/Bergstrom Airport. And more.
Coronavirus Update: Friday, February 25, 2022
While our eyes are glued to developments in Ukraine, a winter storm has whacked the travel system in the United States. According to FlightStats.com, about 2,100 flights were cancelled Thursday with the disruptions centered on Dallas/Fort Worth and Dallas/Love airports. Today, 1,400 flights have already been dumped by noon Eastern time with heavy cancellations in New York and Boston. Here are today's other developments:
When the twain meets The TSA says 1,980,803 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints yesterday. That is more than 83% of volume on a similar day in 2020. Thursday seems to be developing into "change" day when frequent flyers returning home and leisure travelers starting a holiday converge on airports. A new view The CDC is expected to substantially alter its masking guidance today and might quicken the pace that jurisdictions shed their mask mandates. The Associated Press has details. Masks off, eh? Nova Scotia will begin to ease Coronavirus restrictions at the end of the month with all restrictions ending on March 21, the Canadian province has announced. The Swedish system Sweden went its own way on Coronavirus mitigation and it generally eschewed lockdowns and other strong measures. A post mortem on the approach by a government commission says the Swedish way worked. But there were serious errors of omission and commission. Reuters has details. Tale of two cities Asia's two city-state financial powers, Singapore and Hong Kong, have taken different roads in their fight against Coronavirus. It looks like Singapore has taken the much wiser path. Agence France-Presse has details. Hotel hot sheets Nationwide U.S. hotel occupancy was 59.1% for the week ended February 19. That's lodging's best weekly performance in months, according to hotel statisticians STR, and reflects an influx of guests for the President's Day Weekend.Coronavirus Update: Thursday, February 24, 2022
Russia invaded Ukraine in the early hours of this morning. It appears to be a wide-ranging attack aimed at upending and replacing the elected, anti-Putin Ukrainian government and replacing it with a puppet regime. Here are today's other developments: Back to the future The TSA says that 1,752,841 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints yesterday. That is 79.7% of volume on a similar day in 2019. That brings us right back to where we were before the President's Day boom. LA Unmasked Los Angeles County, which covers about 10 million people, is lifting most of its indoor mask mandate starting tomorrow. The Los Angeles Times has details. Poland stays masked Poland will lift most of its remaining coronavirus restrictions on March 1, but it will keep in place a mask mandate for public transportation and indoor venues. The New York Times has details. Under water Down Under Qantas lost A$1.28 billion (US$925.57 million) for the six months ended December 31. That's more than A$25 billion higher than the second half of 2020. Emergency ends Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ended use of the Emergencies Act, the law deployed to break up the so-called Freedom Convoy. Right-wing supporters of the convoy had insisted Trudeau would cling to the extra powers. The CBC has details.Coronavirus Update: Wednesday, February 23, 2022
For the third time, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away a challenge to the Maine vaccine mandate for health care works. The Portland Press Herald has details. Here are today's other developments: President's Day hangover The TSA says that 1,780,987 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints yesterday. That is 78.3% of volume on a similar Tuesday in 2019, a sharp fall from the weekend volume. Ireland unmasking Ireland is loosening its Coronavirus restrictions. Effective February 28, masks will no longer be required except on public transportation and in health care settings. Details are here. EU says loosen up The European Council is recommending that EU nations lift all testing and quarantine requirements for people who received vaccines authorized by the EU. The guidance--and it is just that, non-binding recommendations--is effective March 1. Italy's in Just hours after the EU advice above, Italy announced it would begin dismantling its Coronavirus regulations. Effective March 1, visitors will no longer be required to test before entering the country. Proof of vaccine or recovery from Covid is all that will be required. Prime Minister Mario Draghi added that Italy's state of emergency will expire on March 31 and the country will dismantle its "green pass" rules for entry to public places and dining and drinking establishments. WantedinRome has details. Storm warnings Eurocontrol says that continent-wide airline traffic was 70.4% of 2019 volume during the week ended February 20. That's up 1.2% from the previous week despite fierce storms on the continent last week.Coronavirus Update: Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Russia's de facto invasion of Ukraine is sucking up all the media oxygen today, of course, but it is worth noting that the Canadian Parliament late last night gave its ascent to the Emergencies Act measures that the Trudeau Administration used to break up the so-called Freedom Convoy. The CBC has details. Here are today's other developments: President's Day boom After processing more than 6 million passengers through U.S. airport security checkpoints over the weekend, the TSA says another 2,215,453 people traveled on Monday. That is 95% of volume on a similar Monday in 2019. Austin against the world The Transportation Department says passenger traffic in 2021 was down more than 25% compared to 2019. Austin/Bergstrom, not so much. Austin, the boomtown, has a booming airport, too, and its traffic is now outpacing 2019 numbers. The Austin American-Statesman has details. Hong Kong testing The residents of Hong Kong will be required to undergo three rounds of Coronavirus testing, the government announced today (local time). Agence France-Presse has details. New Zealand nasty New Zealand's response to the Coronavirus has been hailed around the globe. But now some right-wing activists, encouraged by the chaos caused by the so-called Freedom Convoy, have gone berserk, including driving a car at police. The Associated Press has details. Despicable Disney Disney Parks hiked prices and slashed services great and small during the pandemic. Now even Disney's rabid fans are no longer supporting the company's rapacious approach to customers. Frommers.com has details.Coronavirus Update: Monday, February 21, 2022
Today is President's Day, a national holiday in the United States. The current President continued to attempt to head off a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The most recent former guy launched a Twitter rip-off that promptly crashed. Its new logo also seems to infringe on one used by Trailar, a British travel services start-up. Here are today's other developments: Busy Around 6.1 million people passed through TSA security checkpoints at U.S. airports over the holiday weekend (Friday-Sunday). That's nearly a million more than the previous weekend and 90% of 2019 volume during a similar February period. Also notable: The TSA said it cleared 2,241,123 people on Friday, the highest one-day volume since November 28, 2021, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The other side of the mountain There were 699,132 new Coronavirus cases in the United States during the last week, according to Johns Hopkins. That's down about 40% from the previous week and about one third of the more than 2 million cases two weeks ago. The death toll also fell, to 15,151, although that was only a decline of about 1,000. England emerges Hours later than planned and just a day after it was revealed that Queen Elizabeth has a "mild" case of Covid, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this evening (local time) the end of all Coronavirus-related restrictions in England. Also going: nationwide free Covid testing. It'll now be free only for at-risk people. The end of the road Using law-enforcement personnel from around Canada, Ottawa cleared the so-called Freedom Convoy from the heart of the Canadian capital. There were nearly 200 arrests and dozens of trucks were towed and/or impounded. The anti-vax/anti-mask/anti-sanity crowd had disrupted the city for more than three weeks. CTV News has details. Swept away Slovenia says entry requirements--testing, proof of vaccination and quarantines--are no longer in force. "Covid-19 is no longer considered a quarantine disease and ... there is no longer any reason to restrict entry," the health ministry said. Effective today, Slovenia also ends Coronavirus restrictions on shops, services, and other businesses.Coronavirus Update: Weekend, Feb. 19-20, 2022
The Department of Transportation says U.S. scheduled airlines carried 670.4 million passengers in 2021. That's nearly double the traffic in 2020, but still 27% below 2019's record volume. The travel mix changed a bit, too. Last year, 91% of all passengers were domestic compared to 88% in 2019. Here are this weekend's other developments. Boston bails Boston has lifted all proof-of-vaccine requirements effective immediately. That includes restaurants and similar retail establishments. WBZ Television has details. Of course ... A Marine Corps reservist charged with entering the Capitol during the riot and insurrection on January 6, 2021, is now accused of conspiring to steal, forge and distribute fraudulent coronavirus vaccination cards. The New York Times has details. Hartsfield humbled Atlanta/Hartsfield, which fusses over everything, including what people call the airport, is now fussing over its 2021 traffic and global ranking. It handled 75.5 million flyers last year, 32% below its record 2019 count of 110.5 million. Local authorities worry that it'll cause Hartsfield to lose ground in the race to be the world's busiest airport. It's a race no customer cares about, but ... Washington wilts Even at the reduced level of 2021 custom, Hartsfield handles ten times the passengers of Washington's key airports. About 7 million people used Washington/National last year, around 59% of 2019 volume. Dulles Airport handled about 7.4 million or around 60% of pre-pandemic levels.