WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Families are touching down in Florida ready to get together with loved ones celebrating the holiday season. But the surge in COVID-19 cases is making it that much more complicated.
Sydney Kosiak just flew in from Montana. She said being vaccinated gave her some comfort.
"I kept my mask on and I washed my hands. I cleaned off my little seat so I felt very safe," she said.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Klepper De Almeida is seeing how quickly the cases are increasing across our area.
"The number of new cases has tripled over the past week," he said. "We are at around 8-10,000 new cases per day in Florida compared to 1,500 to 2,000 cases about two weeks ago."
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De Almeida believes holiday travel will contribute to the spread of omicron.
"If you could modify your traveling plans particularly traveling overseas, it would be wise to rethink that," he said.
Divine Righteous just flew in from Philadelphia. She said nothing was going to stop her from traveling this year.
"I have a healthy immune system. I don't really worry about that kind of stuff," she said.
If you do have to cancel a trip this holiday season, insurance expert Omar Kaywan of Goose Insurance said to be smart.
"Buy travel insurance too, specifically to protect their trip, and if they're traveling internationally, we highly recommend them to buy COVID-19 insurance," he said.
Nationwide, the Transportation Security Administration expects 30 million passengers between now and Jan. 3.
