STATEWIDE — Health officials, who worry large gatherings could lead to another coronavirus surge, are urging safety and distance as people fill Florida beaches and theme parks for spring break. 

The Tampa Bay and Central Florida areas and much of Florida are popular destinations for many seeking some sunshine and sand during spring break, especially this spring given the fact that it’s been exactly a year since much of the world came to halt with the pandemic.

More than 1.3 million people were screened at airports nationwide on Friday, the highest number since March 15, 2020, the Transportation Security Administration reported.

But the Centers For Disease Control is discouraging spring break travel, even for the fully vaccinated, saying the COVID-19 virus still has yet to be fully contained. 

“Whenever you get a situation where you're going to have people traveling to go to a separate location where there's going to be congregate setting, a festive atmosphere, it's totally understandable that people want to do that,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the top COVID advisor to President Joe Biden.

“But that's something we’ve really got to be careful of. We want people to have a good time on spring break, but don't put your guard down completely. Just be prudent a bit longer. We are going in the right direction. We're almost there,” he said.

Disney World is continuing with the reservation system it started when it reopened last summer. Even if guests have tickets to the parks or annual passes, they still have to book a reservation for the day and the park they want visit. Those park reservations are full for at least the next week.

Fauci says while coronavirus cases and deaths have gone down, he says it is not enough to stop a surge from spring break travel.

“Even though the numbers have gone down, over the last couple weeks they’ve plateaued,” Fauci said. “When you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day, that is a very vulnerable time to have a surge to go back up.”

Fauci worries despite progress with more vaccinations, all of the spring break travel could lead to a spread of new cases, especially with cases of the COVID-19 variant rising now in the country.

That is why health officials are discouraging spring break travel. But for people already heading out to places like Disney World, they urge people to keep masking, distancing and washing those hands.