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An already powerful pent-up desire to travel has only intensified with global weariness of pandemic restrictions and the rollout of vaccines in some countries.
When and how far you can travel – and whether the choice is yours – depends on where you live and, in many cases, on your own risk tolerance.
Should I travel?
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said you should think about it in three steps.
First, “please do everything you can go get vaccinated. No 2, if you can’t get vaccinated, get tested before you go to make sure that you’re negative. And No. 3, where are you going and what do you intend to do? Please be as careful as possible,” Schaffner said.
CDC guidance allows for vaccinated people to get together indoors without masks with other vaccinated individuals or with unvaccinated people from one other household. The CDC has said it plans to release travel guidance for vaccinated Americans soon.
What are you going to do when you get there?
For those who plan to travel, what you do when you get to your destination is often a bigger concern than what happens in transit, Schaffner said.
Are you vaccinated?
Travelers who plan to engage is higher risk activities should ideally wait until they’re vaccinated, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen said, “and even then try to pick and choose your activities because you don’t want to do everything that’s high risk all together.”
Doctors are also warning that vaccinations are not a suit of armor. You still need to wear a mask and social distance as much as possible.
If you are unvaccinated and engaging in higher-risk behaviors while you’re away, you should quarantine and then get tested once you get home, Wen said.
Once one of the world’s most powerful travel documents, the might of the United States passport has been diminished during the pandemic. With US Covid-19 cases nearing the 30 million mark, some nations continue to view American vacationers warily.
In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether travel to international destinations is a good idea. The health risks are obvious. Nations might change their rules at any time. You may have to adhere to stricter curfews and mask mandates than Americans are used to following. Violations could involve hefty fines and even jail time. (And remember: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still urging Americans — even those who have been vaccinated — not to travel.)
But if you decide to travel internationally now, some countries are welcoming Americans. You can read the full list — and what to expect when traveling abroad — here.
The mayor of Miami Beach said that the “city is in a tinder right now” as large waves of spring breakers continue to travel to Florida, raising concerns of a Covid-19 surge.
City officials have declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew to try and slow down the amount of people in the streets.
CNN’s Randi Kaye was live from Miami Beach, and answered viewers’ questions about the situation on the ground.
Watch:
It’s spring break time across the US. Though some states continue to enforce travel restrictions and quarantines, in general more states have been moving toward looser restrictions or none at all in recent weeks. The situation remain in flux, though.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still warns against nonessential travel at this time. If you do decide to travel to another state, it is vital that you stay updated on the latest statewide regulations.
CNN has pulled together a state-by-state list on restrictions and mandates for travelers. You can read the full alphabetical list here.
The mayor of Miami Beach said Monday that his “city is a tinder right now” as massive waves of spring breakers continue flocking to Florida.
“Well it feels in some ways like our city is a tinder right now,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “New Day.”
Gelber pointed out that Florida is one of the few states fully open and “people are flocking here in huge numbers.”
The City of Miami Beach commission Sunday extended an emergency order declaring a curfew starting from 8 p.m. ET Thursday through Sunday, until at least March 30.
The mayor clarified that the 8 p.m. ET curfew means not only that people may not be out on the streets, but also that bars and restaurants must close as well.
Gelber said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saying “everything’s open, come on down” is problematic.
“The problem is that we are still in the midst of a pandemic. It’s not in the rearview mirror yet by any means,” Gelber said noting that Dade County is still seeing around 1,000 new Covid-19 infections a day.
Watch:
The City of Miami Beach commission has extended an emergency order declaring a curfew starting from 8 p.m. ET Thursday through Sunday until at least March 30.
The commission said that City Manager Raul Aguila will have the option to extend for two additional weeklong increments through April 13 if needed.
Causeways will be closed during those days from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. to people who are not employees, residents or hotel guests, the commission agreed. Residents will have a dedicated lane to get back in going forward.
Ocean Avenue will also be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. except for city residents who need to access the road, hotel guests staying on Ocean Ave and employees.
Restaurants within the high impact zone will be able to continue to provide delivery service.
Aguila will have the power to close other public roads as necessary or enact a curfew if needed.
All sidewalk cafe operations need to be suspended within the high impact zone from 7 p.m. through 6 a.m. ET and will need to remove their tables chairs and street furniture by 8 p.m. ET each night.
“Not all people that visit Miami Beach are bad, come to Miami Beach with the intent of breaking the law, and disrupting our quality of life. But this is a different situation, and it calls for drastic measures,” Aguila added.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still urging Americans — even those who have been vaccinated — not to travel, although a recent uptick in the number of passengers screened at US airport checkpoints indicates that people are traveling again in greater numbers.
Each country has its own tangle of rules and restrictions, so almost any trip will require deep pre-travel research.
Here’s what you need to consider before traveling as the pandemic eases:
Read more here.
Spring break air travel just set yet another record of the pandemic, even as health experts warn it’s “crunch time” against the spread of coronavirus and its new variants.
The Transportation Security Administration says it screened 1,543,115 people at airports nationwide on Sunday, beating a record set only two days prior and surpassing the 1.5 million level for the first time since air travel crashed due to Covid. That brings the total number of people who have flown in the last week to 9.8 million. It’s also the eleventh straight day that TSA has screened more than a million people each day.
Numbers continue to trend up. By comparison, Sunday’s new number is 70% of the TSA count from the same day in 2019, pre-pandemic. 1.5 million is almost three times greater than the same-day figure in 2020 when air travel was at its most depressed.
Health experts who are closely following travel data have said new figures could inform how the CDC crafts new guidance on travel for those who are fully vaccinated.
“This is crunch time,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN on Saturday. “This is going to be our most difficult period right now in terms of seeing who wins out.”
