Sometimes it seems like the pandemic that started in Wuhan in the winter of 2019 has held us in its cold grip all the way until now. Even if you’ve been trying to live as if the restrictions don’t exist, avoiding them is itself the tribute that the disease extracts from us. But I have a deep hope for a spring recovery. The smell of fresh-cut turf. The sight of yellow bloom in the forsythia. Children playing kickball in the street. And chemtrails daubed across the sky.
At least the last one seems to be coming back. The Transportation Security Administration says it screened 1,543,115 people at airports last Sunday, a pandemic-era record. For those who don’t know: Full flights have been running almost the entire time during the pandemic. But the number of flights is still down dramatically. TSA screenings are 53 percent below where they were in March 2019. Business travel is still cratered as people still resort to conferencing through digital technology. And international travel is much reduced, as many countries maintain strict and enforced border controls. But we are seeing an upward trajectory, and not a moment too soon.
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