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COVID-19: CDC still encourages Americans not to travel while on vacation
The CDC only cut the recommended quarantine time in half for some cases of exposure to COVID-19.
USA TODAY
More than 1.1 million people traveled to airports in the United States on Saturday, close to Wednesday’s pandemic travel record – despite warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stay home to crack down on coronavirus cases.
The Transportation Security Administration said it examined 1,128,773 people the day after Christmas. That’s almost half the number of travelers tracked on the same day in 2019 and just 62,000 less than the 1,191,123 tracked on December 23 – the maximum on any day in the U.S. since the pandemic began.
The previous pandemic record was set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when 1,176,091 travelers were selected. Saturday was the fifth day during the Christmas holiday rush, when the traveler count reached 1 million. Many travelers left early, with more than 1 million individuals examined on three consecutive days in the weekend before the holiday (December 18-20).
As of Sunday, the United States had more than 19 million COVID-19 cases and 332,700 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
CDC for Americans: Avoid traveling during the winter holiday season, take the COVID-19 tests if you do
The CDC had already urged Americans not to travel on winter holidays, just as it did before Thanksgiving.
“The best thing Americans can do for the next vacation season is to stay home and not travel,” said Dr. Henry Walke, CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, at a news conference in early December. ” . Hospitalizations are increasing, deaths are increasing. We need to try to double the curve, stop this exponential increase. “
For those who decide to travel, the CDC now recommends that you test for COVID-19 one to three days before your travel, as well as three to five days after, and reduce non-essential activities for seven days after your trip, said Walke . Those who do not take the test should reduce non-essential activities for 10 days after the trip, the agency said.
The test does not eliminate the risk of travel, said Walke, but when combined with the reduction of non-essential activities and other precautions, it can make the trip “safer”. he said.
Before stepping up advice on not traveling while on vacation, the CDC had only given general travel advice during the pandemic: “Traveling can increase your chance of obtaining and spreading COVID-19. Staying at home is the best way to protect yourself and protect others. ”
Contributing: Dawn Gilbertson
Travelers continue to ignore the CDC’s advice: TSA tracked pandemic record of 1.19 million travelers on Wednesday