US airlines cancel more flights as Covid threatens holiday celebrations

The Omicron coronavirus variant vigorously continued its viral march across the US on Christmas Day, throwing many winter holiday celebrations into turmoil.

Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday as staffing issues tied to Covid disrupted holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted 921 flights entering, leaving or inside the US canceled Saturday, up from 690 Friday. Over 200 more flights were already canceled for Sunday. FlightAware does not say why flights are canceled.

Delta, United and JetBlue on Friday had said the Omicron variant was causing staffing problems leading to flight cancellations. According to FlightAware, the three airlines canceled more than 10% of their Saturday scheduled flights. American Airlines also canceled 90 flights Saturday, about 3% of its schedule.

The global tally of cancelled flights exceeded 5,400 trips over the weekend.

Christian churches were disrupted, with many canceling in-person congregations, while others planned outdoor services or a hybrid of online and in-person worship, including requirements to wear masks and show proof of Covid-19 vaccinations.

Among those canceling some or all in-person Christmas services were Washington national cathedral, St John the Divine in New York, the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and the historic Old South Church in Boston, after religious leaders said they did not want to place worshippers and church staff at risk of contracting the disease.

That came as some government offices began reducing the recommended isolation periods for those testing positive, to limit workforce shortages, and moved to increase Covid testing capacity.

New York state governor Kathy Hochul said that critical workers in education, healthcare, transportation, grocery stores and sanitation sectors would be allowed to return to work five days after testing positive under certain conditions.

Health officials have repeatedly warned that the situation may change for the worse for tens of millions of Americans that remain unvaccinated.

Many US hospitals are reporting staff shortages as medical personnel report in sick or are barred from work after vaccine mandates came into effect last month.

Joe Biden has said that 1,000 military doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical personnel could be deployed. Federal medical teams have already been sent to some hard-hit states, such as Michigan, in recent days.

Anger over mask and vaccine mandates and other rules have triggered a political backlash in some Republican-led states, with political leaders moving to limit the role of health authorities.

With many hospitals under pressure, front line health care workers are giving up a festive break with their families in order to staff intensive care units where coronavirus patients are suffering.

With the stress on health teams acute in some midwest states, some staff are working 16-hour shifts, the New York Times reported from Indiana.

And in some areas of the country, medical personnel report that Covid misinformation remains their greatest challenge.

In West Virginia, which briefly led the nation in getting people the shots, Covid vaccine penetration stubbornly now remains at around 45%.

With patient numbers growing and staffing levels shrinking, projections show that the number of people hospitalized for the virus during the holiday season will approach the record of more than 1,000 set in September.