Even as models estimate about 1 in 41 Coloradans is contagious with the novel coronavirus and Gov. Jared Polis urges Coloradans to limit Thanksgiving gatherings to their immediate households, more than 41,000 travelers are expected to pass through Denver International Airport on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

That’s a steep drop from more than 79,000 travelers the day before the holiday in 2019. But the airport’s travel numbers remain higher than national averages, according to information from TSA checkpoints.

Data provided by Denver International Airport shows an average daily decrease of 35.67% in 2020 from 2019 between Nov. 21 and Nov. 30, with each day’s decrease typically hovering between 40% to 50%. More than 69 million people passed through DIA in 2019 — a record. In June, the airport’s traffic had tumbled 75% from the same time in 2019. But according to Colorado Politics, DIA still had the second-busiest checkpoints of any airport in the country that month. 

Denver has actually seen a smaller decrease in travelers than has been seen nationwide, according to TSA checkpoint data. Nationally, between Nov. 21 and Nov. 23, for example, traveler numbers were down more than 50% each day compared to the same weekday last year. 

DIA has implemented a program called VeriFLY, which allows people to make a reservation for a dedicated security screening lane. Public information officer Emily Williams said in an email the program had an average of 500 users per day last weekend. 

“Our numbers continue to grow as people learn about the program and we hope to see a continued increase in program usage throughout the holidays,” she wrote. 

The email also said the airport has put up signs reminding people to socially distance in areas where crowds congregate, such as lines for food and security screening. Check-in counters, document screening, airline podiums and some stores and restaurants have plexiglass barriers. 

Williams also wrote in the email that travelers are encouraged to take voluntary precautions around the airport’s trains between terminals such as boarding cars toward the middle of trains, which tend to be less crowded, and taking the airport’s A-Bridge on Level 6 by foot for part or all of their trip to their flight terminal. 

In an effort to reduce crowds at restaurants and grab-and-go markets, the airport has a new food delivery service called Eats Delivered. According to DIA’s website, seven restaurants ranging from McDonald’s and Einstein’s Bagels to Root Down currently participate. 

The airlines themselves continue with a variety of restrictions and precautions, from sanitizing before and after flights to capacity limits. Delta announced last week it has extended its policy of keeping middle seats empty through March 2021, with the exception of households traveling together. 

Delta’s move is the longest extension yet of an airline keeping its middle seats empty. Alaska Airlines will resume booking its middle seats Jan. 6, and Southwest Airlines ends flying with its middle seats empty Nov. 30. 

Southwest explained its decision in a Twitter thread Oct. 22, citing studies and evidence the airline claims demonstrate low risk of COVID-19 transmission on flights if safety precautions such as mask wearing are taken. Southwest cited a report from the International Aviation Transport Association and likened the odds of contracting COVID-19 on a flight to odds of getting struck by lightning. 

But the company’s decision was met with dismayed reactions on the social media platform, with commenters pointing out it came as the U.S. anticipated spikes in COVID-19 cases into the fall, and some saying they would not fly with the airline because of its decision to unblock middle seats. 

The decision “was not made lightly,” stated Southwest in its Twitter thread.