Should I travel? Expert advice at this stage of the pandemic

(CNN) – The already powerful repressed desire to travel has only intensified with the global exhaustion of restrictions on the pandemic and the launch of vaccines in some countries.

In the United States, many people – as can be seen in the crowds of Florida spring break revelers and the latest passenger counts at airport security checkpoints – are already on the move, whether they are vaccinated or not.

Some Americans are awaiting CDC guidance on travel for those who are fully vaccinated, while others who have already had the vaccines are already traveling or making plans.

People are asking from different corners of the globe, “Can I travel – and should I?” The answers are never universal.

In the UK, travel – domestic or international – is currently prohibited by the government. In Ireland, citizens must remain within a 5 km radius of their homes to exercise. The United States clearly has far fewer restrictions on movement.

When and how far you can travel – and if it is your choice – depends on where you live and, in many cases, your own risk tolerance.

Should I travel?

There is a low risk of catching or transmitting the coronavirus in transit, especially when people are traveling in private vehicles, said Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Air travel, especially when everyone is masked, is also quite safe, she said.

“If the trip represents a very low risk in itself, why can’t we say that fully vaccinated people can travel to different parts of the country to visit their relatives, as long as … many unvaccinated people living in families are not gathering many different? “

The CDC said it plans to release travel guidelines for vaccinated Americans soon.

Even those who have not been vaccinated can travel relatively safely, said Wen, if they are aiming to see another family.

“This is low risk and there are ways for unvaccinated people to do this safely. For example, they can quarantine and get tested before travel,” she said.

Tony Johnston, addressing the question “should I travel” from Ireland from a tourist and non-medical perspective, has a definite answer in the other direction.

We shouldn’t be traveling yet, he says.

“People need to remain cautious and conservative for a few more months. The big prize, if people are patient, is that the international tourism industry will reopen sooner or later,” said Johnston, who is head of the hospitality, tourism department. and leisure studies at the Athlone Institute of Technology.

Another wave of the virus could hurt the reopening, he said, noting that Ireland’s hotel industry is still completely closed. Politicians are calling for a very cautious reopening, given the skyrocketing number of hospitalizations and deaths in the country after Christmas.

It’s what happens when you get there which is the key

For those planning to travel, what you do when you arrive at your destination is often more of a concern than what happens in traffic, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The most careful way to travel is by car, because you can create a protective cocoon, you can run in and out of the bathrooms, you can get food at the drive-thru, you can take tissues when cleaning the gas pump when you are refueling. tank.

“But, again, it is what you do wherever you go that increases the risk.”

Spring break in Florida is gathering on the beach outside, but then they go to bars and restaurants “and that’s when they have a drink or three and the masks are removed, they talk enthusiastically and they stay close to other people in a enclosed spaces for extended periods of time, “said Schaffner.

Travelers planning to engage in high-risk activities should wait until they are vaccinated, Wen said, “and still try to choose and choose your activities because you don’t want to do everything that is high-risk at the same time.”

And remember, vaccination is not an “armor”, says Schaffner. It is still important to wear masks and maintain social distance as much as possible.

If you have not been vaccinated and engaged in high-risk behaviors while you are away, you should quarantine and get tested as soon as you get home, said Wen.

The best advice for anyone looking to travel soon?

First, “please do everything you can to get vaccinated. Number 2, if you can’t get vaccinated, get tested before you go to make sure you are negative. And number 3, where are you going and what do you intend to do? Please be as careful as possible, “says Schaffner.

He has a colleague who ends all calls by saying, “Stay out of jail!”

Good advice, he says.