NEWARK: Americans who enjoy newfound liberty are expected to travel and gather during the Fourth of July weekend for cookouts, fireworks, music, and beach excursions, unlike those in pre-pandemic days. Haven’t seen since.
Yet sluggish restrictions, labor shortages and large numbers of unvaccinated people mean that some people may not be as free as they would like.
And there are fears that a mix of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans could undo some of the progress made against the crisis at a time when the highly infectious Delta variant is spreading rapidly.
Nashville is expecting more than 400,000 people to flock to the city for a Fourth of July celebration featuring country star Brad Paisley. In Massachusetts, Boston Pops’ Independence day The concert is back, but the show that usually draws hundreds of thousands to the Charles River Esplanade in Boston will be held at the Tanglewood Music Center 100 miles away.
Beaches and lakes are also expected to be packed. In Southern California, Huntington Beach is planning one of the largest gatherings on the West Coast, a three-day festival that could be attended by up to half a million people.
Elizabeth Driscoll plans to enjoy festivities in Cheboygan, Michigan, which include a parade down Main Street, a visit to a farmers market, and a family party on a lake, before a fireworks display over the Strait of Mackinac is. Last year the parade and fireworks were canceled.
“You can feel it all over the city, there is an influx of people from the bus tourism side, and the people who live here are out and about,” she said. “Good energy.”
At the same time, airlines are struggling to get enough crew members to fly their planes. Pools and beaches have been affected due to the lack of lifeguards. And restaurants and bars in tourist destinations have had to retreat for hours because of a lack of help.
President Joe Biden has hailed the holiday as a historic moment in the country’s recovery from a crisis that has killed more than 600,000 Americans and months of restrictions that are now almost gone. He plans to host more than 1,000 people at the White House – first responders, essential workers and soldiers – for a cookout and fireworks that the administration is calling the “heat of freedom.”
“I’m going to celebrate it,” Biden Said Friday before the holiday. “Very good things are happening. … Across America, people are going to the ballgame, doing good things.” But he also warned that people who have not been vaccinated would “live” because of them.
Thanks to vaccines given to two-thirds of the nation’s adults, the US is reporting an average of about 12,000 new cases and 250 deaths a day. But it falls short of the 70% target set by Biden by July 4. Vaccine hesitation remains stubborn, especially in the Deep South and West, allowing the Delta variant to spread across the country.
AAA estimates that more than 47 million people will travel by car or plane in the US this weekend, a return to 2019 levels and 40% more than last year. This includes 35 lakh airline passengers.
At the Newark, New Jersey, airport, passengers waited in long check-in lines on Wednesday and faced flight delays that tested their patience. Few people were happy to board a plane after holiday plans were disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions last year.
Reta Williams, a 54-year-old manager at a pharmaceutical company, was traveling to Charleston, South Carolina, with about 50 relatives for a family reunion that was postponed a year ago because of the virus.
“And we’re not going to practice any social distancing,” she said with a laugh.
Computer science student Zach Carruthers, 21, flew from South Carolina to Newark for a weekend in the Jersey Shore, where people have been coming back.
“It’s nice to have it back after such a long quarantine,” Carothers said, looking forward to a holiday that “will definitely have celebratory beers.”
While masks have also been shed in indoor locations across the country, Transportation Security Administration insist they are still required at airports and planes – a restriction not everyone is gracefully accepting. Airlines are reporting increasing cases of disruptive passengers refusing to wear masks.
Many communities are likely to attract fireworks to some of the largest crowds seen in months.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said, “I think the outdoor stuff is pretty safe for people who are unvaccinated or unvaccinated.” “Maybe a packed outdoor concert isn’t ideal, but less than that, outdoor activity is safe for people. Watching fireworks is fine.”
Taking the party indoors is considered less safe, at a time when in some states less than half the population has been fully vaccinated.
“I’m worried about much of the country,” said the dean of Dr. Lynn Goldman. George Washington UniversityPublic Health School. “I think it’s too early to declare it, especially because of what we see in other parts of the world.”
Yet sluggish restrictions, labor shortages and large numbers of unvaccinated people mean that some people may not be as free as they would like.
And there are fears that a mix of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans could undo some of the progress made against the crisis at a time when the highly infectious Delta variant is spreading rapidly.
Nashville is expecting more than 400,000 people to flock to the city for a Fourth of July celebration featuring country star Brad Paisley. In Massachusetts, Boston Pops’ Independence day The concert is back, but the show that usually draws hundreds of thousands to the Charles River Esplanade in Boston will be held at the Tanglewood Music Center 100 miles away.
Beaches and lakes are also expected to be packed. In Southern California, Huntington Beach is planning one of the largest gatherings on the West Coast, a three-day festival that could be attended by up to half a million people.
Elizabeth Driscoll plans to enjoy festivities in Cheboygan, Michigan, which include a parade down Main Street, a visit to a farmers market, and a family party on a lake, before a fireworks display over the Strait of Mackinac is. Last year the parade and fireworks were canceled.
“You can feel it all over the city, there is an influx of people from the bus tourism side, and the people who live here are out and about,” she said. “Good energy.”
At the same time, airlines are struggling to get enough crew members to fly their planes. Pools and beaches have been affected due to the lack of lifeguards. And restaurants and bars in tourist destinations have had to retreat for hours because of a lack of help.
President Joe Biden has hailed the holiday as a historic moment in the country’s recovery from a crisis that has killed more than 600,000 Americans and months of restrictions that are now almost gone. He plans to host more than 1,000 people at the White House – first responders, essential workers and soldiers – for a cookout and fireworks that the administration is calling the “heat of freedom.”
“I’m going to celebrate it,” Biden Said Friday before the holiday. “Very good things are happening. … Across America, people are going to the ballgame, doing good things.” But he also warned that people who have not been vaccinated would “live” because of them.
Thanks to vaccines given to two-thirds of the nation’s adults, the US is reporting an average of about 12,000 new cases and 250 deaths a day. But it falls short of the 70% target set by Biden by July 4. Vaccine hesitation remains stubborn, especially in the Deep South and West, allowing the Delta variant to spread across the country.
AAA estimates that more than 47 million people will travel by car or plane in the US this weekend, a return to 2019 levels and 40% more than last year. This includes 35 lakh airline passengers.
At the Newark, New Jersey, airport, passengers waited in long check-in lines on Wednesday and faced flight delays that tested their patience. Few people were happy to board a plane after holiday plans were disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions last year.
Reta Williams, a 54-year-old manager at a pharmaceutical company, was traveling to Charleston, South Carolina, with about 50 relatives for a family reunion that was postponed a year ago because of the virus.
“And we’re not going to practice any social distancing,” she said with a laugh.
Computer science student Zach Carruthers, 21, flew from South Carolina to Newark for a weekend in the Jersey Shore, where people have been coming back.
“It’s nice to have it back after such a long quarantine,” Carothers said, looking forward to a holiday that “will definitely have celebratory beers.”
While masks have also been shed in indoor locations across the country, Transportation Security Administration insist they are still required at airports and planes – a restriction not everyone is gracefully accepting. Airlines are reporting increasing cases of disruptive passengers refusing to wear masks.
Many communities are likely to attract fireworks to some of the largest crowds seen in months.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said, “I think the outdoor stuff is pretty safe for people who are unvaccinated or unvaccinated.” “Maybe a packed outdoor concert isn’t ideal, but less than that, outdoor activity is safe for people. Watching fireworks is fine.”
Taking the party indoors is considered less safe, at a time when in some states less than half the population has been fully vaccinated.
“I’m worried about much of the country,” said the dean of Dr. Lynn Goldman. George Washington UniversityPublic Health School. “I think it’s too early to declare it, especially because of what we see in other parts of the world.”
.