LOS ANGELES – Hard-hit California eclipsed 2 million coronavirus cases on Christmas Eve as the U.S. headed into a holiday season of travel and family gatherings that threaten to fuel the deadly crisis across the nation.Despite warnings from public health experts to stay home, over 1.19 million travelers passed through U.S.
airport security checkpoints Wednesday — down by about 40% from a year ago, but the highest one-day total since the crisis took hold in mid-March.Airports also recorded around 1 million travelers on each of the five days between last Friday and Tuesday.Ember McCauley, a 21-year-old nursing student at Missouri Western in St.