CDC Travel Recommendations for Summer!
Given the importance of the global pandemic, I think it’s important to provide the current advice from the Centers For Disease Control (CDC). This month, we will focus on being safe during the summer season.
If You Travel …
Protect yourself and others during your trip:
- Clean your hands often.
- Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you have been in a public place, after touching surfaces frequently touched by others, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, and before touching your face or eating.
- If soap and water are not available, bring and use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub your hands together until they feel dry.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Avoid close contact with others.
- Keep 6 feet of physical distance from others.
- Wear a cloth face covering in public.
- Cover coughs and sneezes.
- Pick up food at drive-throughs, curbside restaurant service, or stores.
Considerations for Types of Travel
Travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19. We don’t know if one type of travel is safer than others; however, airports, bus stations, train stations, and rest stops are all places travelers can be exposed to the virus in the air and on surfaces. These are also places where it can be hard to social distance (keep 6 feet apart from other people).
Consider the following risks for getting or spreading COVID-19, depending on how you travel:
Air travel
Air travel requires spending time in security lines and airport terminals, which can bring you in close contact with other people and frequently touched surfaces. Most viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered on airplanes. However, social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and you may have to sit near others (within 6 feet), sometimes for hours. This may increase your risk for exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.
Bus or train travel
Traveling on buses and trains for any length of time can involve sitting or standing within 6 feet of others.
Car travel
Making stops along the way for gas, food, or bathroom breaks can put you and your traveling companions in close contact with other people and surfaces.
RV travel
You may have to stop less often for food or bathroom breaks, but RV travel typically means staying at RV parks overnight and getting gas and supplies at other public places. These stops may put you and those with you in the RV in close contact with others.
Learn more about how to protect yourself from COVID-19 on different types of transportation on CDC’s website Protect Yourself When Using Transportation.
Anticipate Travel Needs
- Bring enough of your medicine to last you for the entire trip.
- Pack enough alcohol-based hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol) and keep it within easy to reach.
- Bring a cloth face covering to wear in public places.
- Prepare food and water for your trip. Pack non-perishable food in case restaurants and stores are closed.
- Take steps to protect yourself from COVID-19 when booking accommodations or planning an overnight stay.
- If you are considering cleaning your travel lodgings, see CDC’s guidance on how to clean and disinfect.
State and Local Travel Restrictions
Follow state and local travel restrictions. For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state or local health department where you are, along your route, and at your planned destination. While you are traveling, it is possible a state or local government may put into place travel restrictions, such as stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders, mandated quarantines upon arrival, or even state border closures. Plan to keep checking for updates as you travel.
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