TSA on Sunday screened more than 1 million people in a day for the first time since March

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Sunday screened more than 1 million people, marking the first time screenings have exceeded that number since mid-March.

The TSA also reported that it screened 6.1 million people during the week spanning Monday Oct. 12 through Sunday Oct. 18, the largest weekly amount since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

"TSA has been diligent in our efforts to ensure checkpoints are clean, safe and healthy for frontline workers and airline passengers, implementing new protocols and deploying state-of-the-art technologies that improve security and reduce physical contact," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said, according to a press release.

The data indicates that daily checkpoint travel numbers continue to fall far below where they were on the same weekday the year prior.  

Airline travel is still down significantly from last year, with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics preliminary data for August 2020 showing a steep decline from August 2019. 

"U.S. airlines carried 70% fewer scheduled service passengers in August 2020 than in August 2019, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 21 airlines that carry more than 90% of the passengers," BTS has reported.

But despite this stark decline in air travel, BTS noted that the preliminary August 2020 data shows that U.S. airlines transported 2% more people in August than in July 2020