Liberty: Lots of travelers expected on freer Fourth of July

Americans enjoying newfound liberty are expected to travel and gather for cookouts, fireworks and family reunions over the Fourth of July weekend in numbers not seen since pre-pandemic days

NEWARK, N.J. -- Americans enjoying newfound liberty are expected to travel and gather for cookouts, fireworks and family reunions over the Fourth of July weekend in numbers not seen since pre-pandemic days. Yet lingering restrictions, worker shortages and still significant numbers of unvaccinated people mean some may not be as free as they would like to be. And there are fears that the mixing of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans at a time when the highly contagious delta variant is spreading rapidly in the U.S. could undo some of the progress made against the scourge. Airlines are expecting a banner holiday and have struggled to get enough staffing to fly their planes and keep up with the millions of travelers passing through airports. Pools and beaches have been experiencing a shortage of lifeguards, and restaurants and bars in tourist destinations have had to scale back hours because of a lack of help.