More than 1,700 TSA employees test positive for COVID-19, San Diego officers account for 20 cases

Travelers are hoping less holiday chaos at the airport, but that’s not the case the day before New Year's Eve. 

“A lot more people are out flying. It is full flights. Flights were packed," said traveler at San Diego International Airport, Jake Vanbast. 

"My flight got delayed like five hours," said another traveler Raymundo Gomez. 

It's not just delayed flights travelers need to be weary of. The Transportation Security Administration’s website said there have been 157 confirmed COVID-19 cases at the San Diego International Airport since March 2020 which includes 146 TSA screening officers and 11 non-screening employees. 

The website also says overall more than 1,700 employees currently have COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 13,300 federal TSA employees have had COVID. More than 11,500 employees have recovered while 35 have died after contracting the virus. 

"This should bring more awareness to people. People should start wearing more masks," said Gomez. 

A CBS 8 source said since Christmas, "TSA San Diego has had 20 officers test positive for COVID and five others [are] quarantined for each case."

The source said, "A TSA employee who last worked at Terminal 2 East on December 27th tested posted for COVID-19."

Officials with the San Diego International Airport say they cannot comment on the medical information of their personnel. 

"All the security lines were very long. If we didn’t get here four to five hours beforehand, it would have been bad," said Vanbast. 

According to Flight Tracker, 154 flights were delayed and 25 flights were cancelled at the San Diego International Airport Thursday. This number continues to increase. 

Nationally, on average, 1,000 flights have been cancelled every day since Christmas Eve. 

"A little nerves catching something on flights," said Vanbast.