As we enter the second year of the global pandemic, we’ve grown accustomed to certain changes in our daily lives. Dining in a restaurant might involve a tent and heat lamps, doctors appointments are conducted via telemedicine apps, and gone are the days of meandering your way through a mall. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has one more addition to the growing list of lifestyle changes: Staring Tuesday, you’ll be required to provide evidence of a negative COVID test before flying back to the U.S. from any international destination.
“If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get tested no more than 3 days before you travel by air into the United States (US) and show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight, or be prepared to show documentation of recovery,” reads the new policy, which was posted to the CDC’s website on Jan. 23.
As the new policy mandates, airlines must refuse to board anyone who fails to provide a negative COVID test result. This could very well disrupt travel plans for some, but should help to minimize potential exposure for those flying, as well as the broader public.
According to David Cutler, MD, a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, the CDC’s new policy has arrived not a moment too soon. As he explains, the “recently increased ability of COVID to pass from person to person is making air travel and all activities more risky for contracting this disease.”
Longer flights already pose a risk that experts say is incalculable at this time. Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), said in a recent interview that shorter flights may be safe due to HEPA filter use for “modest duration flights,” but for long, international flights, “all bets are off.”
“It is impossible to say how safe airline travel might be,” agrees Cutler. “It is important to recognize that anyone around you could transmit COVID to you. And you could pass it on to others.”
If you must fly, read on for some expert-approved tips on how to do it as safely as possible. And for the masks you shouldn’t wear while flying or in any other situation, check out The CDC Warns Against Using These 6 Face Masks.
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