May 31 coronavirus news

By Melissa Mahtani, Aditi Sangal, Meg Wagner and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 7:55 p.m. ET, May 31, 2021
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10:49 a.m. ET, May 31, 2021

UK should delay final stage of lockdown easing, government adviser says

From CNN's Niamh Kennedy 

A scientific adviser to the UK government has called for plans to lift all remaining coronavirus restrictions on June 21 to be reconsidered, warning that the UK could be seeing the early signs of a third wave of the pandemic. 

“There has been exponential growth in the number of new cases and at least three-quarters of them are the new variant,” Ravi Gupta, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Cambridge, told BBC Radio 4 Monday. 

“What we are seeing here is the signs of an early wave that will probably take longer than previous waves to emerge because we do have quite high levels of vaccination in the population,” he added. 

Where things stand now: Under the UK government's roadmap, all legal limits on live events and social contact will be lifted starting June 21, enabling nightclubs to reopen.

Gupta, who is a member of the UK government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), said that while cases are still “relatively low at the moment,” they could soon rise to “explosive” levels, with a high number of infections likely to be asymptomatic. 

“Children and young adults are the individuals who are not vaccinated and many of them may not even be tested, so we may actually be missing the true number of infections to a greater extent than we would in older adults,” Gupta said. 

“If you look at the costs and benefits of getting it wrong, I think it is heavily in favor of delay, so I think that's the key thing,” he added. 

The UK has recorded more than 3,000 daily cases for five consecutive days according to the UK government coronavirus dashboard.

10:24 a.m. ET, May 31, 2021

In Europe, officials propose member states coordinate "gradual lifting" of EU travel restrictions

From CNN's Amy Cassidy

The European Commission has proposed an update to earlier recommendation of free movement restrictions within the European Union, calling on member states to consider a gradual lifting of coronavirus travel restrictions within the bloc as the epidemiological situation improves. 

“We are proposing that Member States coordinate this gradual lifting of free movement restrictions, taking into account our new common tool: the EU Digital COVID Certificate,” Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, said Monday. ���We now expect Member States to make best use of this instrument and the recommendation to allow everyone to move freely and safely again,” Reynders added.

The EU Digital Covid Certificate aims to restore free movement within the bloc by exempting fully vaccinated holders from travel-related testing or quarantine.  

In a statement, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides stressed that any update to travel restrictions and requirements must be carried out in a “coordinated and predictable” way. 

“Freedom of movement is one of EU citizens' most cherished rights: we need coordinated and predictable approaches for our citizens that would offer clarity and avoid inconsistent requirements across Member States,” Kyriakides said. 

“As vaccination is progressing with increasing speed, we can be confident that safe free movement without restrictions can gradually resume again,” she added, noting however that leaders must “remain cautious” and “always put the protection of public health first.”

9:16 a.m. ET, May 31, 2021

Vaccinated Americans should feel protected this holiday — but there are still risks for unvaccinated people

From CNN's Madeline Holcombe

People gather at a beach in Santa Monica, California, on Saturday, May 29. 
People gather at a beach in Santa Monica, California, on Saturday, May 29.  Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images

The Memorial Day beach gatherings this year are not as worrisome to health experts as they were last year.

Fully vaccinated and generally healthy people "should feel very well protected," Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN medical analyst, said.

About half of Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The high number of vaccinations has meant a decrease in cases in protected people. But for those who have not been inoculated, the risk of large gatherings remains high because "the virus has fewer places to go," Wen said.

"We do have more transmissible variants, and unfortunately those individuals who don't have immunity are not protected from these variants that can wreak a lot of havoc," Wen explained.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber expressed concern over the influx of tourists this Memorial Day weekend.

Gelber said one of the problems is that "we're one of the few places open, but we're also a very attractive destination. So simply, too many people are coming."

"The virus is still here," he reminded everyone when speaking Friday with CNN. "The volume of people that have been coming here is very unprecedented, and some who are coming are looking to sort of act out."

The mayor said there will be "an enormous saturation of police officers" on patrol over the long weekend.

8:45 a.m. ET, May 31, 2021

Today could be the busiest day at US airports since the pandemic began

From CNN's Pete Muntean and Greg Wallace

Travelers wait to check in for their flights at Los Angeles International Airport, on Friday, May 28.
Travelers wait to check in for their flights at Los Angeles International Airport, on Friday, May 28. Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Monday is poised to be the busiest day at America’s airports of the pandemic, capping off an expected record weekend of holiday travel.

New numbers from the Transportation Security Administration show the agency screened nearly 7.07 million people from Thursday to Sunday, when it screened 1.65 million people. 

Sundays are typically the busiest travel day of the week, as people head home from a weekend away, but that was not the case this time given the Monday Memorial Day holiday. On Friday, TSA screened 1.96 million people.  

This weekend promises to be the start of a busy summer. United said Monday will be its busiest day of the holiday weekend and bookings from June through August are more than two times the levels of 2020.  

8:24 a.m. ET, May 31, 2021

Travel numbers in the US are up for Memorial Day weekend

From CNN's Aya Elamroussi and Jason Hanna

People ride up escalators on their way to baggage claim at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, May 28.
People ride up escalators on their way to baggage claim at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, May 28. Will Lanzoni/CNN

It's Memorial Day, and as the US slowly returns to some aspects of pre-pandemic life, people are increasingly on the move.

AAA estimated that more than 37 million people in the US would travel at least 50 miles from home over the Memorial Day weekend — 13% down from 2019, but 60% above last year.

And the US set a pandemic-era record number of passengers traveling through US airports in a single day — 1.96 million — on Friday, according to the Transportation Security Administration.