Three U.S. tourists have died at a resort in the Bahamas after falling ill, officials of the Atlantic island nation confirmed, and another was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper issued a statement Friday saying that police are investigating and the cause of death was unknown, though foul play “is not suspected.”

Their identities were not initially made public.

The health minister, Dr. Michael Darville, told Eyewitness News Bahamas on Saturday that some hotel guests went to a clinic Thursday with nausea and vomiting, and were treated, and left. Three were later found dead. A fourth was flown to a hospital in New Providence.

He said the environmental health scientists, physicians and others were investigating to ensure there was not a public health hazard.

“We feel that what we are seeing is an isolated case associated in a particular area,” he said, adding that investigators are doing toxicology and blood tests to help determine the cause of the illness.

The head of communications for the prime minister's office, Latrae L. Rahming, tweeted that the deaths occurred at Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma.

In a statement to People Magazine, a representative for Sandals confirmed the deaths and said the company was “actively working to support both the investigation as well as the guests’ families in every way possible.”

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

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Airlines dealing with major staffing shortages are bracing for the busy Fourth of July travel weekend.

Some airlines have already had to cancel or delay flights.

Earlier this week, Delta's CEO apologized to its customers in advance and offered free flight changes for travelers this weekend.

Some airlines will offer travel vouchers or gift cards for passengers willing to be bumped on oversold flights, but what happened on one flight from Michigan to Minnesota this week, is almost unheard of.

According to passengers on the flight, Delta offered $10,000 for eight people to give up their seats on the plane.

Multiple passengers on social media confirmed it, saying it all started at the gate with an opening bid of $5,000.

When there weren’t any takers by the time boarding began, delta bumped the offer up to $7,500.

Once passengers were on board, a flight attendant announced they were still looking for volunteers, and offering $10,000 cash each.

They say it still took about 20 minutes before enough people decided to get up and take the offer.

Delta has not confirmed or denied the offer.

Hawaii's highest peaks are covered in snow.

Images from Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island, show of snow covering the ground. The summit received several inches of snow this week as a storm passed through the area.

While it may sound odd for it to snow in Hawaii, the National Weather Service says it's not uncommon. The highest peaks in Hawaii generally receive snow every winter, according to the NWS.

A blizzard warning was issued for Hawaii last year. It was the first time a blizzard warning was issued for the state since 2019.

While there may be snow at the highest elevations in Hawaii, the rest of the state is experiencing sunny and breezy conditions. Highs are forecasted to be in the 60s on Thursday.

ORLANDO, Fla. —

A Middletown family's Disney vacation turns into heartbreak as their 12-year-old son ends up in the ICU on a ventilator with the flu.

They've been there since earlier this month and don't think they'll be able to come home until at least Thanksgiving.

"I never imagined us being here this long or even being in the ICU," mother, Vanessa Baker, said.

Baker and her family left Middletown and drove to Florida on Oct. 3 to make magical memories at Disney World.

But after a day at the park and another in the Fun Zone, she said her son, Kameron Miller, 12, had a sore throat and a cough.

"He was so excited to come. He talked about it for weeks. We all kind of needed a break with the whole last year. How it's been, like, stressful," Baker said.

She said he has autism and asthma.

Baker took her son to the emergency room and she said things got worse.

"After the breathing treatment is really whenever he was like, I can't breathe. He was, like, wanting shots. He wanted them to give him something," she said.

Baker said eventually her son was intubated and taken to Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando where they've been since.

She said doctors are considering he may have MIS-C, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which is a condition linked to COVID-19.

Baker said her son has COVID-19 antibodies, but tests negative now.

She believes he may have had an asymptomatic case at some point in the past year.

Baker told WLWT her son also has the flu and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

"There's no definite time limit on how long we're going to be here and there's, no, like idea of how he'll go home," she said.

For now, she stays by her son's side as he remains on a ventilator.

She said she misses hearing him talk and seeing his smile.

It's been three weeks since he has been able to talk, according to Baker.

"He's fun and energetic. He tries to make friends," she said.

She hopes they soon make those Disney World memories together.

"There's hard times and then there's good times. I just know that he's in the best place that he can be," Baker said.

Kameron's mother said he had only turned 12 just before their trip, so he wasn't vaccinated.

She said he has been through a lot so far and had a collapsed lung last week.

They're hoping to wean him off of so much medication and the ventilator in the coming days.

She said Kameron's siblings are staying with his grandmother.

His grandmother told us both children miss their parents and are thinking of their brother.

Baker said they hope to be home by Thanksgiving and neither parent is working as they stay at the hospital.

The family has started a GoFundMe page to help with expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/f/xh7jv-medical-and-expenses

Walt Disney World Resort is ringing in its 50th anniversary Friday, as families vacation to the park and think ahead to holiday travel plans. 

"I'm very excited for the 50th," said Doris Stanley. 

Stanley is a self-proclaimed Disney enthusiast. She and her son are regulars at the park. Now the local family planned to visit for the celebration once more. 

"I have a 7-year-old son and it's really wonderful to watch him experience it. So you kind of get to experience it again through the eyes of a child," Stanley said. "We love going and it feels like we're home." 

From home to destinations, travel experts say thinking ahead is a must.

"We're expecting it to be incredibly busy. We're expecting about 2-2.5 times as many travelers as went through TSA checkpoints in 2020," said Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper.

Hopper's Holiday Travel Guide report says the number of people screened through TSA increased to about 80 percent of 2019 levels this summer and has tapered off at about 77 percent. It recommends booking holiday flights before Halloween.

"So definitely beach destinations seem quite popular but if you look at the ones that have trended up the most since 2019 in search popularity it seems like ski resorts might also be very popular here," said Damodaran.

The report finds the most booked destination for Thanksgiving and Christmas is Orlando. 

"Will the theme parks continue their sort of destination dominance this holiday season? It's likely but we just don't know yet," said AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross. 

Newsy turned to AAA to learn more. 

"We can't say with any certainty how many are going to be traveling but we can assume folks will be traveling and probably the vast majority of those folks will be traveling by car," said Gross.

Their survey found more than half of Americans are planning a vacation before the end of next year, with around one-third of travelers saying they're more likely to buy travel insurance for trips between now and the end of 2022. AAA recommends looking for policies that have a 'cancel at any time option' for more flexibility. The curveball is still COVID.

"Prepare and pack your patience number one," Gross said."Go to the websites and see what kinds of restrictions are in place see if there are opportunities to go at those off-hours when they might be a little less crowded."

The rules vary from place to place with cleaning and other measures. 

In Florida, SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Orlando Resort encourage face coverings indoors, Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland require them inside, while Universal Studios Hollywood mandates them outside, too.

"We're just cautious. We socially distance we wear our mask and we just try to do our part," said Rachelle Murphy.

Murphy planned to travel from Alabama to Disney with her son and family. 

"I'm really excited to experience that with him. So I'm most excited to do that with him and to always have those memories to be able to talk to him about it," said Murphy. 

Memories to hold on to for people near and far.

This story was first reported by Haley Bull on Newsy.com.

Gov. Andy Beshear wants to do his part to incentivize those who work for him to get their COVID-19 shots, an effort geared at encouraging other state offices and employers to do the same across Kentucky.

The governor announced Thursday, during his latest COVID-19 briefing, that he will give all executive branch employees an extra vacation day for getting vaccinated.

Beshear said the incentive comes after the state first allowed workers time during their shifts to go get vaccinated when the shots began rolling out in January. The state also gave workers time off for recuperation.

Now, the governor said he wants to reward those in his office for getting their shots. He said the one extra vacation day applies to all active, permanent, full-time and part-time executive branch employees upon submission of vaccination proof.

Beshear said the incentive also applies to all those already vaccinated.

"This is an incentive so that you can spend more time with your family doing what you want to do for doing the right thing," Beshear said.

The governor said he's also encouraging other constitutional offices that would like to participate. He said those offices can contact the personnel cabinet to submit a request.

Beshear's action comes as he tries to do his part to show that the state is fighting against the latest COVID-19 surge. In July, he re-introduced a mask mandate for all state employees and for all visitors to state buildings.

"We’re here to say we need you, and we need you to be healthy. We’ve lost far too many people in this fight and I don’t want to lose anymore people at all. Much less those that work for the commonwealth of Kentucky," Beshear said.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. —

A teen girl died Saturday after getting struck by lightning at a Georgia beach.

Witnesses saw the incident, which happened at Tybee Island on Saturday afternoon.

"It was scary. I will never say the odds of getting struck by lighting is slim," said Dylan Pope, who was at Tybee Island near 17th Street when he heard a big boom.

“We saw one big bolt. Nobody knew someone got hit,” Pope said.

A 15-year-old girl visiting from Alabama was struck by lightning. She died from her injuries, officials said.

"People were either in a panic, they were running off the beach, two people ran down to try and give her CPR," Pope said.

Barabara Loyd was also visiting Tybee Island when the lighting struck.

"It shook the beach ground,” Loyd said the thunderstorm came out of nowhere "There was no sign, I didn’t even get a notification from my weather app.”

Brandi Sheridan is another witness who saw the lightning strike and she said, "It was horrible to see. The lightning bolt seemed to come out of nowhere. We were all leaving the beach. This was truly just a freak occurrence. We spoke to a lifeguard who said he’s been a lifeguard on this beach for over five years and in that time no one has been struck by lightning. My heart breaks for them."

According to the National Weather Service, lightning killed an average of 27 people each year between 2009 and 2018.