The Omicron variant, which is now responsible for more than 70% of new coronavirus cases in the United States, has already helped push da...
The Omicron variant, which is now responsible for more than 70% of new coronavirus cases in the United States, has already helped push daily US case averages above 200,000 for the first time in nearly 12 months, New York Times coronavirus tracker says.
A commercial group of airlines has request the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shorten the recommended isolation period for fully vaccinated employees who test positive to a maximum of five days, starting at 10 days, before they can come back with a negative test.
“Quick and secure adjustments by the CDC would ease at least some of the staffing pressures and set up airlines to help millions of travelers returning from vacation,” said Derek Dombrowski, a spokesperson for JetBlue. .
The flight attendants union, however, argued that reductions in recommended isolation times should be decided “by public health professionals, not the airlines.”
Some of the delays this weekend had little to do with the pandemic. Alaska Airlines has had only a few cancellations related to the crew’s exposure to the coronavirus, according to spokesperson Alexa Rudin. Yet it had canceled 170 flights in those two days, according to FlightAware, including 21% of its Sunday flights, due to unusually cold and snowy weather in the Pacific Northwest, which affected its hub, the International Airport of Seattle-Tacoma.
The pandemic has also caused a shortage nationwide train and bus workers. In New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is also facing a slight increase in positive cases among its staff, who are 80 percent vaccinated. He said Monday’s metro service was operating on a regular schedule, with a few exceptions.
“Anything we can do as passengers to help minimize the risk to transit workers will help reduce the spread,” said Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Citizens’ Standing Advisory Committee to the MTA, a group monitoring. “The MTA is doing what it can with the resources at its disposal.”
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