(WTTW news)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it is safe for people who are fully vaccinated to travel, although the agency still advises against non-essential travel.

“For domestic travel, fully vaccinated individuals do not need to have a COVID-19 test before or after the trip or quarantine themselves after the trip,” said Dr. Rochelle Walenksy, director of the CDC. “For example, fully vaccinated grandparents can fly to visit their healthy grandchildren without getting a COVID-19 test or self-quarantine.”

However, the renewed guidelines come as COVID-19 cases rise again in the US and much of Europe.

In Chicago and Cook Counties, reported COVID-19 cases have increased dramatically in the past month. On Monday, Chicago reported average Almost 600 new cases a day, an increase of more than 100 from the previous week.

“Any movement of people who may be infected is bad, is bad for the pandemic. As you can see from these guidelines, while it is safer to walk … but the recommendation is still: Postpone the trip if you can postpone it, “said Dr. Robert Murphy, director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg Faculty of Medicine.

The CDC Council comes as more Americans get back on planes, at least compared to that time a year ago.

The Transportation Security Administration tracked 1,543,474 travelers on April 4, 2021, up from just 122,029 on the same day in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. However, compared to April 4, 2019, this number was still down by around one million passengers.

“The executives of the major US airlines are overjoyed that things are getting better because… they’re better than they were a year ago. They’re still radically bad if you compare them to two years ago, ”said Claire Bushey, a Chicago-based reporter who covers the aviation industry for the Financial Times. “But some improvements are better than none. It’s mostly vacation travel, however, and that’s a problem for Chicago-based airline United, as much of their money comes from business class travel. ”

The starts, stops and uncertainties of the past year have been particularly difficult for travel agents in Chicago.

Local agent John Conenna, who owns Venus Travel on the Northwest Side of Chicago, says he receives calls every day to book trips abroad, particularly to Italy. However, due to the current surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the slow adoption of the vaccine on the continent, it cannot help.

“The market that needs to be improved, and I don’t see any improvement, is the European market, just because of the vaccination situation,” said Conenna. “This European market, especially for the agency I have, is the market that is basically the profitable size of my business and if it doesn’t pick up it will be a problem.”

Note: this story will be updated with video.

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