The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised a health concern after airlines reported more than 1 million people traveling by plane in just a single day. 

Airport
(Photo : Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
People were seen waiting for their scheduled flights amid the surging new cases of COVID-19 in the country.

CDC and other health experts in the country have already warned that traveling ahead for the upcoming holidays including Thanksgiving is not recommended. They said that social gatherings will just increase the number of COVID-19 infections in the country.

Despite the early warnings from the agency and the health experts, more than 1 million from different demographics traveled by plane in the U.S. in just a single day. To be exact, there were around 1,019,836 passengers flew in the country, according to the daily figures reported by the Transportation Security Administration.

Read also: COVID-19: California Reaches 1 Million Cases 

The number of travelers was also the second-highest number of people who travel by plane since March or since travels were restricted in the country. The highest so far since the pandemic began was on Oct. 18 where there were around 1,031,505 who traveled by plane, according to a published article in ABC News. 

This raised an alarm for the CDC who just gave a warning last week against celebrating the upcoming holidays outside the household. The agency also stated that the safest way to celebrate the upcoming holidays is to be with the people you live with in the same household.

In the guidelines that CDC released, they also stated "Travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others this year," The agency released this after a surge of COVID-19 infections in the country was recorded. 

Read also: Do Face Masks Protect Wearers Against Virus? New Study Has Conflicting Findings 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described the surge of COVID-19 infections in the past 10 days as extra-ordinary. This means that the number could increase as millions of people traveled for the upcoming holidays especially for Thanksgiving. 

They will not only get the virus through social gatherings but there is also a chance that they could get infected while they are boarded on the plane. A Harvard review published last month found out that if plane travelers will not wear masks and if the planes will not be cleaned frequently, that will make the virus to spread. 

Meanwhile, a study conducted by the Department of Defense and United Airlines also found out that the risk of getting infected with the virus through planes was 'very low' when proper measures are taken such as masks, frequent cabin cleaning, and distancing during boarding and deplaning help keep the virus from spreading.

The most striking part is that the number of cases could increase because millions of people are still planning to travel ahead of the holidays and the upcoming winter season. According to the data of the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center that more than three million new cases were recorded between Nov.1 and 22.  

The number of new cases is about a quarter of all COVID-19 infections in the country since the pandemic began. The positivity rate in 44 states in the country is higher than the recommended five percent threshold of the World Health Organization.