TAMPA, Fla. — With the Thanksgiving travel season now in full swing, many are making their way to visit relatives, despite the pleas of health experts concerned about the spread of COVID-19.

“Everyone has just been polite, keeping their distance,” said Kathy Bellar who flew into Tampa International Airport from Dayton, Ohio.

“On the plane, we filed out by rows there was no one rushing to get off so that was kind of nice,” she said.

“l wanted to see my family,” Bellar added.

So did John and Cindy Smith.

On Wednesday, they were preparing to board a flight to Houston, the third leg of their holiday trip.

“We actually flew from Oregon to Chicago to be with family,” said Cindy. “Chicago to Tampa to be with family.”

Most health experts would encourage people not to do this, and with good reason.

Coronavirus cases are surging in nearly all of the fifty states, with some areas reporting rates of infection higher than when the pandemic began.

That sobering fact is not lost on the Smiths.

“We’re nervous. We’re scared. We feel like ‘Are we doing the right thing? Are we being stupid?’" said John. “We’re very apprehensive.”

That level of apprehension among passengers like the Smiths is evident at the airport. Officials opened a COVID-19 testing site last month which sees as many as 200 passengers per day.

“Typically when you open the site in the morning you already have a line of people who are trying to get those test before they fly,” said Emily Nipps, a spokeswoman with Tampa International.

Nipps said air travel this Thanksgiving is about half of where it was last year.

In March, at the height of the pandemic, travel fell by 97%.

As for Kathy Bellar, she admits she thought about staying home because of the pandemic but in the end felt it was worth the risk.

“I did feel pressure to do that because I work in health care,” said Bellar. “COVID is not going anywhere soon and I would rather have a quality of life than a quantity of life.”