--- title: Test Positive for COVID-19 While Traveling? Here's What To Do description: What happens if you test positive for COVID-19 while traveling or on vacation, either in the U.S. or abroad? Here's what to know. canonical: https://time.com/6166457/covid-19-test-positive-while-traveling/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-04-13T15:41:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-11T23:30:52.000Z article:section: Health og:title: What Happens If You Get COVID-19 While Traveling? og:description: Here's what to know, whether you're in the U.S. or abroad og:url: https://time.com/6166457/covid-19-test-positive-while-traveling/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21d939aea25f857d/698a30dc4ee262d8f431a14e/covid-while-traveling.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Travel Industry Implements New Measures And Prepares For Impact For New Omicron Covid Variant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Happens If You Get COVID-19 While Traveling? twitter:description: Here's what to know, whether you're in the U.S. or abroad twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21d939aea25f857d/698a30dc4ee262d8f431a14e/covid-while-traveling.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Do If You Test Positive for COVID-19 While Traveling > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3364a050-8743-47b0-93e4-443ebb057925&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Difference Between a Covid Spike and a Surge [Watch (HLS stream): The Difference Between a Covid Spike and a Surge](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/j83pb4lv.m3u8) (2:25)  _Published 2022-04-05. What happens if you test positive for COVID-19 while traveling or on vacation, either in the U.S. or abroad? Here's what to know._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 11, 2023 11:30 PM UTCPublished: Apr 13, 2022 3:41 PM UTC  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 11, 2023 11:30 PM UTCPublished: Apr 13, 2022 3:41 PM UTC After two years of pandemic living, Americans are collectively ready for a vacation. About 85% of people in the U.S. expect to travel this summer, [according to data](https://www.ustravel.org/research/monthly-travel-data-report) from the industry trade group U.S. Travel Association. Many others aren’t even waiting that long. Almost 2.3 million people [passed through U.S. Transportation Security Administration checkpoints](https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput) on April 10, only slightly fewer than on that date in 2019. No matter how much we might like to, though, it’s not always possible to take a vacation from COVID-19\. [The virus is still circulating widely](https://time.com/6160259/ba2-covid-19-surge/), including in popular tourist destinations like the U.K., Germany, France, and Italy. That means getting sick while traveling is a real possibility—and one that can turn into an expensive and stressful logistical headache. ### **What happens if you get COVID-19 while traveling internationally?** To enter the U.S., [international travelers currently need either a negative COVID-19 test result](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html) obtained within one day of their flight or proof that they have recovered from COVID-19 in the last 90 days. (This policy applies to both U.S. citizens and non-citizens, but children younger than 2 are exempt.) Without one of those documents, you cannot board a U.S.-bound flight. If you test positive, [you should isolate and delay travel for 10 days](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/international-travel/index.html#do-not-travel), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But where do you stay if you need to quarantine abroad? And who pays for extended accommodations and rescheduled flights? Specifics vary from country to country, but the short answer is that travelers are often on the hook. Exceptions to the test-to-return policy may be granted on an “extremely limited” basis, such as in the event of an emergency medical evacuation or humanitarian crisis, the CDC says—but the average vacationer won’t have many options beyond paying to extend their stay. “Have a plan in case you have to remain overseas longer than anticipated,” the U.S. Department of State [writes on its website](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/covid-19-travel-information.html). “This includes being ready to cover additional lodging costs, flight ticket change fees, and any other additional expenses they may incur due to the unexpected extension.” Some travel insurance covers extra expenses incurred because of a COVID-19 case, but policies may not cover all costs related to an extension, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Travel Insurance Association. “Travelers concerned about this potential disruption in their travels should first look for a policy that includes sickness or quarantine as a covered reason, and then determine which benefits quarantine falls under and the limits of those benefits,” they wrote in a statement. A spokesperson for the State Department said travelers who must isolate should contact their hotels and airlines to arrange accommodations and re-book travel, and, if necessary, seek assistance from their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. The spokesperson added that U.S. citizens traveling abroad are subject to local quarantine rules, which may differ from those of the U.S. CDC. Certain countries maintain “quarantine hotels” where travelers can quarantine upon arrival (if required by that country) or ride out their isolation periods. _USA Today_ [reports](https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/hotels/2022/02/18/how-find-hotel-testing-quarantine-facilities-anywhere/6830608001/) that some resorts even offer discounted rates to guests who have to extend their stays to isolate. It’s smart to check ahead of time, however, as these hotels aren’t available in all areas and their costs vary widely. Aliya Waldman, who is 29 and lives in Missouri, stayed in a quarantine hotel after catching COVID-19 during a March trip with the Birthright program, which organizes visits to Israel for Jewish young adults. Waldman was required to stay in the hotel for a full week, even though she tested negative after five days in isolation. She believes the costs of her stay and new return flight were covered by Birthright, but says the experience has made her think twice about traveling abroad independently during the pandemic. “I won’t be able to afford getting stuck in another country,” she says. It’s not clear how long international travelers will have to abide by the CDC’s testing requirement. Four trade groups—the U.S. Travel Association, Airlines for America, American Hotel and Lodging Association, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce—recently urged the White House’s coronavirus czar to suspend that policy, since many Americans have some [immunity to the virus from vaccination and prior exposure](https://time.com/6140281/covid-19-immunity-boosted-infected-safety/), and are thus at lower risk than they were earlier in the pandemic. “While providing little health benefit, this requirement discourages travel by imposing an additional cost and the fear of being stranded overseas,” they wrote in [a joint letter](https://www.uschamber.com/immigration/letter-to-dr-ashish-jha-on-pandemic-travel-restrictions). ### What happens if you get COVID-19 while traveling within the U.S.? There is no negative test requirement for most domestic transportation, only [a mask mandate](https://time.com/6151061/should-you-wear-mask-flights-covid-19-mandates/) that the [CDC said will be in place through at least May 3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/13/transportation-airplane-mask-mandate-extended/). But that doesn’t mean you should get on a plane, train, or bus if you’re sick. The [CDC says not to travel if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or have tested positive](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html) and not yet completed an isolation period. Without a testing requirement in place, though, that guideline depends heavily on the honor system. Nonetheless, travelers who test positive for COVID-19 within the U.S. should self-isolate where they are, if there’s no way to get home via private transportation. Finding a place to do so can be tricky, though. Some U.S. cities with hotel quarantine programs, including [New York City](https://www1.nyc.gov/site/helpnownyc/get-help/covid-19-hotel-program.page) and [Philadelphia](https://www.phila.gov/2022-03-18-health-departments-covid-isolation-and-quarantine-hotel-closes-after-two-years/), are winding them down, and [Airbnb says guests should not check into a listing](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2833/quarantine-and-isolation-stays-policy) if they have COVID-19\. Competing rental platform Vrbo, however, [told ](https://www.cntraveler.com/story/do-i-need-to-tell-my-hotel-or-airbnb-that-im-quarantining-there)[_Condé Nast Traveler_](https://www.cntraveler.com/story/do-i-need-to-tell-my-hotel-or-airbnb-that-im-quarantining-there) that its private properties can be “an ideal lodging option for guests who need to quarantine or self-isolate.” ## Transcript Spike, surge and uptick are used fairly interchangeably. I think many people in healthcare would view a surge as something that has the potential to overwhelm the healthcare system or threaten the capacity of hospitals in a given area. Whereas an uptick, or an increase, or spike in cases is usually used a little bit more casually just to suggest that case counts are rising. The ways that the U.S. has been predicting when a spike is coming, one of them is just looking to other parts of the world. Europe and particularly the U.K., has been a good predictor for the U.S. throughout the pandemic, they started to see Delta cases and Omicron cases rising a few weeks before we did. So, looking at what's going on in other countries is very valuable, as is looking at metrics like testing. If more cases are being reported and if a higher percentage of tests are coming back positive, those are both indications that there's more virus spreading in the community. Scientists and researchers all over the world are monitoring COVID, of course. Particularly looking for new variants as the virus continues to evolve. And a lot of those efforts are coordinated through the World Health Organization. But also, independent labs are scientists who are sequencing COVID samples to look for new variants, will often sound the alarm for the rest of the world when they start to notice either the viruses evolving or that a certain variant is spreading more rapidly in certain area. For example, before the Omicron surge, that news came out of South Africa originally and that kind of let the rest of the world know that they needed to be aware this variant was coming. During a spike in cases, I think we can keep doing the things that health experts have really been recommending for the last couple years. A lot of vaccine and mask mandates have rolled back recently but that doesn't mean that masking and vaccination are not still effective or still necessary in certain situations. So if case levels are rising, or very high in your area, you might want to wear protective masks like a N95. When you go out into indoor areas in public, you might want to limit the time that you spend in public indoor areas. You should stay up to date on booster shots as they're recommended for different demographics. And you can take advantage of that home tests to test yourself before you gather with others to make sure that you're not unknowingly infected with the virus. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6166457/covid-19-test-positive-while-traveling/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6166457/covid-19-test-positive-while-traveling/"},"headline":"What to Do If You Test Positive for COVID-19 While Traveling","datePublished":"2022-04-13T15:41:45.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-11T23:30:52.000Z","description":"What happens if you test positive for COVID-19 while traveling or on vacation, either in the U.S. or abroad? 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