Millions of Americans are expected to travel over Christmas and New Year's, with some booking sites, such as Hopper, predicting that even international travel will approach prepandemic levels. Many travelers are wondering if they should test positive even if they are vaccine free, because they might get stuck somewhere far from home.
It is not an outrageous question. Customs and Border Protection data shows that more than 5 million people flew into the United States over the holiday period. Every person age 2 and up who is returning to the United States from abroad by air has to take a coronaviruses test within a day of their flight home. Some people will have to cancel their flights if the number of travelers is low because they tested positive.
The immediate concerns for people who become severely sick with Covid go far beyond getting stuck. Over the past week, an average of 7,052 people around the world died from the coronaviruses. The implications are not as dire for people who have been vaccined. When I.C.U.s are overwhelmed, it can feel self-indulgent to worry about your inability to board a flight. The consequences are not insignificant from a planning perspective.
This was not easy to answer before the Omicron variant came out. The odds of the average American contracting Covid at one in 5,000 per day are likely to increase as Omicron spreads.
Early indications suggest that the variant causes more infections than previous versions. The majority of the people who were identified with Omicron in the United States were fully protected from the disease. Scientists think that the variant might cause milder disease than other versions and that it is less likely to become severe in vaccine recipients.
Boosters should help decrease the chance of a person getting a vaccine. Dr. Fauci, President Biden's top medical adviser, said Wednesday that early data shows that the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines offer substantial protection against Omicron. It is not too late to reap the benefits of a booster shot if you are traveling soon, according to a professor of infectious disease. He and other experts said that stronger protection kicks in 10 to 14 days after the shot, so the sooner you get one, the better.
No one will ask you to flash negative test results when you drive across a state border. Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not require negative coronaviruses tests for domestic travelers.
The College of American Pathologists' president said that isolating yourself from others is the best course of action if you test positive.
She said it was the morally and ethically correct thing to do.
It is up to the individual to decide how to proceed. Even if a person never develops symptoms, the CDC advises isolating for at least 10 days after a positive test. In a recent article for The Atlantic magazine, the writer argues that the recommendation to bevaccinated is outdated and that people should be able to test out of isolation sooner. In a recent interview, the president-elect of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene said that once you have tested negative, you should feel good about traveling again.
For better or worse, these are just recommendations. Employers, educational institutions, states and counties have additional isolation policies. Depending on where you tested positive, you might get a call from a contact tracer. You might not.
It is important to know the points at which you will have to take a test and what will happen if you or someone you are traveling with tested positive. A positive test can result in you being unable to board a flight. You might be required to stay in a hospital for more than 10 days in other destinations.
If you are going to get stuck, you should pack as if you will. Amy Eckhardt is the owner of World View Adventures, a travel agency based in Buffalo, N.Y.
Ms. Eckhardt has not had a client test positive while abroad, but she has learned from her experience. She spent about a month and a half in Mexico last winter before she had the chance to get her vaccine. She chose a resort in Costa Mujeres that offered free on-site testing and covered the costs of food and lodging if necessary, for the final leg of her trip.
She said that when her results came back positive, she was asked to move from her oceanfront room to a basement room in the Quarantine section. The staff was still figuring out how to deal with such situations because she was the first guest to test positive. She had to move to a new room across the hall every three days, while people in hazmat-like suits and goggles sanitized the room and put new towels in the bathroom, because her resort had a guard outside.
She never developed any serious symptoms, and her main obstacle was boredom, which she countered by posting detailed updates about the iguana on her patio and other humorous observations in a private Facebook group for travel agents. She returned to the United States after testing negative for the disease.
Someone who has Covid will usually test positive for five to eight days.
He said that in rare cases someone might test positive for as long as six weeks even though they are no longer contagious. There is a way to get around this. Many countries and airlines will accept a certificate of recovery from a doctor in lieu of a test. The American Society of Travel Advisors, a trade organization, urged people to review the C.D.C.'s highly specific requirements for that certificate.
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The president of the College of American Pathologists recommends that anyone who tests positive with an at- home test follow up with a P.C.R. test, which is more likely to give you a true positive.
It depends on the type of insurance. Elaine explains in this article that travel insurance will cover additional airfare and lodging for up to seven days past your originally scheduled return date. Medical costs abroad are often excluded from traditional health insurance policies.
It would be wise to take the precautions you took before you were vaccine, such as avoiding crowded indoor events and wearing a mask.
Dr. Milstone said that masks will keep people from getting infections, whileVaccines are doing an amazing job of keeping people alive.
It is worth remembering that you need to be extra cautious before you travel, as you might not test positive until you are on your trip.
The vice president of Travel Beyond has seen this happen. 10 Americans flew to Cape Town the day after Thanksgiving. They all tested negative in the United States. They had to take another test in order to fly to Africa. A traveler tested positive. A second American traveler who was with the first tested positive. Ms. Mikkelson said it was likely that the first traveler had been in Minneapolis. They missed the safari despite being in a luxury hotel. They flew home after they both tested negative.
