Travel guidelines around the world have been regulated to help boost the tourism sector as nations cope with severe economic losses from the past few months. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently removed the required 14-day self-quarantine for travelers returning from outside their state or the country.
Previously, the agency recommended self-isolation for two weeks after returning from other countries or areas with high-transmission rates of coronavirus. The CDC still notes that staying home is the "best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19."
The CDC guidelines recommend that those who feel sick or have been exposed to someone ill should not travel. Traveling with someone sick is highly discouraged.
Travel Guidelines & Considerations
One of the things to consider when traveling is the rate of transmission from where you are and where you will be traveling. It is also important to keep track of your own health conditions, such as having an underlying condition or living with someone at a high risk of coronavirus infection.
Before booking a flight or planning a trip, the CDC also recommends that you thoroughly check if the place you will go to has restricted travel. This is to avoid rebooking flights, especially for international flights. More information can be found at the Office of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, or local information.
The World Health Organization also has several guidelines on traveling, such as the importance of hygiene practices, surveillance, and contact tracing. Several contact tracing apps have already been developed to help determine high-risk areas or recent local cases.
A crew member wearing a face shield gives instructions to a passenger boarding the flight.
FAQ: What Should You Know About Traveling During the Corona Virus?
Airplane Transmission
On August 18, a study was released assessing the transmission of coronavirus on an international flight between a group of tourists. The flight was from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Frankfurt, Germany, on March 9.
Since this occurred when the pandemic hasn't been widespread yet, none of the 24 tourists was diagnosed with coronavirus before the flight, nor did anyone practice safety measures such as wearing masks of practicing physical distancing. The first coronavirus case was traced back to a hotel manager the group came in contact with the week before.
When they arrived in Germany, the group underwent swab tests. Other passengers on the same flight were also contacted a month later to see if anyone was in recent contact with someone who had coronavirus.
As a result, four of the tourists were symptomatic, two were presymptomatic, and one was asymptomatic. Moreover, 98 percent of the 78 passengers were exposed to the tourist group, and seven had coronavirus symptoms from five days to two weeks after the flight.
The team of researchers concluded that there were two possible ways of transmission on flights that occurred either before or after the trip. Then, the risk of transmission increased in the airplane's environments due to air circulation and close proximity between people. There are also numerous fomites or possibly infected surfaces on the plane. The study also supports the theory that coronavirus may be airborne, depending on the environment.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The CDC Reports How COVID-19 Spread on Cruise Ships
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