Coronavirus FAQ: What’s The Recommendation About Touring In The Delta Variant Period?

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I waited until I was vaccinated and the CDC had unnecessary travel to plan a trip – but that was before the Delta era. Now I have a flight planned for September and the falls are exploding. What are the flight rules this fall? Should i cancel ?!

Depends on.

The decision to travel depends on both your personal risk tolerance and public health considerations, say medical professionals and travel experts. If you’ve booked a flight for the next few weeks, now is the time to reassess. If you ask yourself these questions, Dr. Jill Wetterkopf, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases in Adults and Children at Baylor College of Medicine:

• Do you have any health concerns? Does someone you live or see with frequently have health problems? “Even if you don’t get sick [with symptoms] but if you are infected, you could infect someone else, ”she says.
• What is the transfer rate and Hospital capacity from the place you fly to? If you don’t want to travel into an uncontrolled situation, it advises that you may not be able to take care of yourself because of an illness, COVID or otherwise, or an injury. “If it looks like things are moving in the direction of uncontrolled community transmission, then it is wise not to travel to that area,” she says. (If the local Department of Health’s COVID tracker points to the worst level of threat, it likely indicates an uncontrolled spread. Houstons Harris County, for example, is currently red for “hard”, and advises people who are not fully vaccinated to stay home.) Especially when traveling internationally, there is a risk of inadequate care if you should need medical attention in a congested country with fewer resources than the US says Henry Wu, Director of the Emory TravelWell Center and Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine. And right now, in some parts of the United States, patients are having to wait an exceptionally long time to be examined by a health worker in an emergency room
• Do you live in a region that is booming? If it does, you run the risk of infecting others at your destination.

So when should you cancel a trip?

This is a particularly challenging moment in the pandemic to make decisions, our experts admit, because there is simply a lot we do not know about the months ahead.

“We don’t know which way things will go; it’s hard to predict right now, ”says Weatherhead. “Delta is a new variable and some areas are not using the same mitigation strategies as last year.”

The governor of Hawaii has even urged all tourists to stay away until at least the end of October while the hospitals are busy.

“Given that, my best advice is that everyone’s travel threshold should be a little higher right now,” says Wu. “Since this wave is so serious, it is advisable to reduce activities that increase the risk of exposure.”

However, instead of canceling, consider postponing it.

“It makes sense to wait if the trip can be delayed,” says Wu. “I would say hesitate until there is more certainty, or maybe change it to a road trip” to a safer destination.

The good news is that most major airlines are still waiving change fees. One thing that hasn’t changed though? The phone hold time. You could wait around 2 hours to speak to a human.

When you go:

If you fly, the rules for domestic flights have not changed: you still need to mask yourself at airports and you continue to reduce your risk by keeping physical distance from others as much as possible and removing your mask as little as possible . Although many people have given up on some of the stratification strategies after vaccination, they still work and are especially important when you find yourself in riskier than usual situations, such as the jet bridge between the airport and the plane.

“I traveled this summer and I think the most dangerous part was the jet bridges, which are still overcrowded and overcrowded,” he says. “There’s not much you can do, but keep your mask on. The more you can avoid this crowd, the better. “

The snack cart presents another potentially risky situation, so take your snack with you (save it for your destination) or eat it quickly when others are wearing their masks, suggest Wu and Weatherhead.

In terms of logistics, traveling domestically remains fairly straightforward: there are no temperature controls or verification systems to check your vaccination or COVID-19 test logs. (However, when you arrive at your destination, you may need your vaccination card to eat in restaurants or attend concerts.)

When you travel abroad, things are now a little more complex: The European Union removed the US from its “safe list” this week, which means that individual countries can impose quarantine and testing restrictions on visits. Be sure to check the requirements of the country you are traveling to as well as those CDC list of countries not to travel to.

Although the CDC does not officially recommend testing after you return home]if you are vaccinated, “when you have risk factors or are around people who may be frail or unvaccinated, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be extra careful and get tested, ”says Wu.

What if you are not vaccinated?

As with most activities that involve other people, traveling without a vaccination is much riskier. In fact, this week the CDC urged all unvaccinated individuals to avoid traveling over the Labor Day holidays.

“If you are traveling anyway and not getting vaccinated, then really do your best and stick to the protocols [masking and physical distancing] for your own safety and that of those around you, ”says Wu. And, he says, have it tested in quarantine or after the trip!

An easier solution? Weatherhead and Wu say if you’re eligible, get vaccinated.

Sheila Mulrooney Eldred is a freelance health journalist based in Minneapolis. She has written on COVID-19 for many publications, including Medscape, Kaiser Health News, Science News for Students, and The Washington Post. More at sheilaeldred.pressfolios.com. On twitter: @milepostmedia.

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