What precautions should you take after returning from travel during the COVID-19 pandemic?

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• Get tested with a viral test 3-5 days after travel AND stay home and self-quarantine for a full 7 days after travel.
○ Even if you test negative, stay home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days.
○ If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected.
○ If you don’t get tested, stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel.
• Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days, whether you get tested or not.
• Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms; isolate and get tested if you develop symptoms.
• Follow all state and local recommendations or requirements.

Do I have to wear a mask when I travel during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth is required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States and while indoors at U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Travelers are not required to wear a mask in outdoor areas of a conveyance (like on open deck areas of a ferry or the uncovered top deck of a bus). CDC recommends that travelers who are not fully vaccinated continue to wear a mask and maintain physical distance when traveling.

Should I travel during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Delay travel until you are fully vaccinated. If you are not fully vaccinated and must travel, follow CDC’s recommendations for unvaccinated people.

What are the risks of getting COVID-19 on an airplane?

Most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes. However, keeping your distance is difficult on crowded flights, and sitting within 6 feet/2 meters of others, sometimes for hours, may make you more likely to get COVID-19.

Can COVID-19 be transmitted on airplanes?

We conclude that the risk for on-board transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during long flights is real and has the potential to cause COVID-19 clusters of substantial size, even in business class–like settings with spacious seating arrangements well beyond the established distance used to define close contact on airplanes.

As long as COVID-19 presents a global pandemic threat in the absence of a good point-of-care test, better on-board infection prevention measures and arrival screening procedures are needed to make flying safe.

Can I travel during the COVID-19 pandemic if I am not fully vaccinated?

Delay travel until you are fully vaccinated. If you are not fully vaccinated and must travel, follow CDC’s recommendations for unvaccinated people.

What do I do if I test positive for COVID-19 before a flight?

People should self-isolate and delay their travel if symptoms develop or a pre-departure test result is positive until they have recovered from COVID-19. Airlines must refuse to board anyone who does not present a negative test result for COVID-19 or documentation of recovery.

Do I need a COVID-19 test before boarding a flight to the United States?

If traveling internationally, you must get a COVID-19 test no more than 3 days before you return by air to the United States. You are required to show a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States.

How long can COVID-19 linger in the air?

The smallest very fine droplets, and aerosol particles formed when these fine droplets rapidly dry, are small enough that they can remain suspended in the air for minutes to hours.

Can a COVID-19 test taken before departure from the US be used to return within the 3-day time frame?

If a trip is shorter than 3 days, a viral test taken in the United States can be used to fulfill the requirements of the Order as long as the specimen was taken no more than three days before the return flight to the US departs. If the return travel is delayed longer than 3 days after the test, the passenger will need to be retested before the return flight.

Travelers considering this option should additionally consider the availability of appropriate testing capacity at their destinations, and the time frame needed to obtain results, as a contingency when making plans for travel.

Can an airline deny boarding a passenger if they don’t have a negative COVID-19 test?

Airlines must confirm the negative test result for all passengers or documentation of recovery before they board. If a passenger does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery, or chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.

Do airlines need to keep copies of passenger COVID-19 test results?

No, passengers must show a copy of their test results to airline employees or the aircraft operator before boarding, but the airline or aircraft operator does not need to retain copies of test results.

Do I need a COVID-19 negative test if am travelling between US states but transit through a foreign country?

If you booked an itinerary from a US state or territory to another US state or territory and the itinerary has you taking a connecting flight through a foreign country, you do not need to be tested. An example of this situation is an itinerary booked between the Northern Mariana Islands (a US territory) and the US mainland via Japan.

Do I need to present a negative COVID-19 test upon entry into the United States?

All air passengers coming to the United States, including U.S. citizens and fully vaccinated people, are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days before travel or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months before they board a flight to the United States.

What happens if I don’t take a COVID-19 test and want to travel to the US?

Air passengers traveling to the US are required to present a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery. Airlines must confirm the negative test result or documentation of recovery for all passengers before boarding. If a passenger chooses not to present a test result or documentation of recovery, the airline must deny boarding to the passenger.

Do I need to get another COVID-19 test if I have a connecting flight?

If your itinerary has you arriving to the US via one or more connecting flights, your test can be taken within the 3 days before the departure of the first flight.

Does the COVID-19 negative test order apply to all flights or just commercial flights for passengers arriving to the US?

This order applies to all flights, including private flights and general aviation aircraft (charter flights). Passengers traveling by air into the US are required to have proof of testing regardless of flight type.

Do I need to get tested before traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic if I’m fully vaccinated?

You do NOT need to get tested or self-quarantine if you are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 3 months. You should still follow all other travel recommendation.

What happens if I don’t get the second COVID-19 vaccine shot?

What happens if you don’t get the second dose?
If you skip your second shot, the short answer is that you aren’t getting maximum protection against COVID-19. All of the clinical trial data is based on people getting both doses, with both vaccines showing strong immune protection even 6 months after vaccination.

Can you get Covid twice?

“This study shows you are twice as likely to get infected again if you are unvaccinated. Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you, especially as the more contagious Delta variant spreads around the country.”

How likely is it that you get reinfected with COVID compared to someone whose immunity comes from vaccines?

People who’ve had COVID, twice as likely to get reinfected than those who get vaccinated, CDC says. Residents infected with COVID in 2020 experienced a reinfection between May and June of 2021, same time Delta variant intensified.

What happens if you only get one shot of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine?

While you may have some protection after the first dose, there are still a lot of unknowns. For example, your immunity may be short-lived.

Pfizer’s trial results reported 52% efficacy between the first and second dose — but the small number of people who only got one shot weren’t followed for the rest of the study.

Do I need to schedule an appointment for my second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine?

Scheduling an appointment for your second shot at the time you get your first shot is recommended, but not required.