Is it safe to travel with kids during the pandemic?

Parents across the country are wondering whether it is safe to travel with kids right now during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the answer to that question isn’t straightforward, especially with the rise of new variants. It depends on your family’s vaccination status, who you plan to see, what you plan to do and how you plan to get there.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends delaying travel until you are fully vaccinated, because travel increases your chance of getting and spreading the virus. If it has been at least six months since your last shot, you should get a booster shot before your trip.

The CDC says fully vaccinated people can travel within the country. They don’t need to get tested for COVID-19 before or after their trips and they don’t need to self-quarantine, though they should self-monitor for symptoms and get tested if symptoms appear. While the CDC says you don’t need to wear a face mask if you’re fully vaccinated and outdoors, they do recommend wearing your mask in public spaces, like airports and bus stations, and they recommend masking both indoors and outdoors for those who are unvaccinated, like kids under 5.

Airlines and epidemiologists say that it’s safe to fly again if you’re vaccinated, thanks to hospital-grade air filtration and rigorous cleaning and screening practices—although, unlike in the early days of the pandemic, planes taking to the air these days are rarely empty enough to allow for 3 feet (nevermind 6 feet) of social distancing between passenger groups, especially during peak holiday travel times. On airplanes, proximity to an infected person is the most important factor to be worried about, but the risk of getting infected on an airplane remains relatively low.

Public health experts agree that while there’s no such thing as a no-risk trip during the pandemic, there are ways to significantly reduce your family’s risk of getting sick, including wearing masks when traveling by plane, train or bus, washing hands frequently, using hand sanitizer—especially after contact with high-touch surfaces—and keeping physical distance whenever possible from your fellow travelers.

Here’s how to decide whether to travel with your family and how to reduce risks if you do travel.

How do we know if it’s safe to travel as a family?

Unless you are fully vaccinated, the CDC still discourages travel. Because vaccines are only available for those ages 5 and up, this may mean that younger members of your family may not yet be vaccinated. In those cases, the CDC encourages individuals to consider the following questions:

• Is COVID-19 spreading where you’re going? You can get infected while traveling.
• Is COVID-19 spreading in your community? Even if you don’t have symptoms, you can spread COVID-19 to others while traveling.
• Will you or those you are traveling with be within 6 feet of others during or after your trip? Being within 6 feet of others increases your chances of getting infected and infecting others.
• Are you or those you are traveling with more likely to get very ill from COVID-19? Older adults and people of any age who have a serious underlying medical condition are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
• Do you live with someone who is more likely to get very ill from COVID-19? If you get infected while traveling you can spread COVID-19 to loved ones when you return, even if you don’t have symptoms.

How to think about risk factors

Still not sure whether to plan that family trip? Here’s another way of thinking about travel safety during the pandemic.

Early on in the pandemic, epidemiologists identified the risk factors for coronavirus transmission in terms of “time, space, people, place.” This still holds true today: the least amount of risk involves the shortest possible amount of time spent with the most possible space between the smallest number of people in the largest possible place (preferably outdoors). Of course, that risk can be reduced even further with vaccinations and boosters. Airline travel, train travel and hotel stays—all of which by definition involve a large group of people confined in a small amount of indoor space—present a challenge for families worried about the risk of virus transmission, especially for those who are unvaccinated or who haven’t received a booster shot.

That said, it’s up to individual families to decide whether travel feels right and safe for them. If your family includes even a single unvaccinated, immunocompromised or older individual, your tolerance for risk is going to remain low—or close to zero—and you’re likely going to want to stay close to home. Likewise, if you are pregnant or the parent of a newborn infant, you might want to remain cautious about travel.

If you live in or are traveling to an area where transmission levels are low and declining, plus you’re able to take social distancing and cleaning precautions during your trip and no one in your family belongs to an at-risk group, you might decide that family travel is a risk you are willing to take (with reasonable precautions for yourself and others) for the sake of your mental health and your children. If this is the case, you’re taking the position that’s right for you. If you decide you’re not ready, then that’s what’s right for your family. You know your family’s particular situation best.

Here’s how experts break down various kinds of travel risks and how to minimize them if you do decide to travel.

Is it safe to fly right now?

Airports and airlines are doing everything they possibly can to reduce the risk of virus transmission on airplanes and keep passengers safe, including temperature checks, health screenings, reducing contact points during baggage check, check-in, security and boarding, frequent deep cleaning and modified seat booking. But every airline and airport has different practices (just like the pandemic guidelines for everything else from reopening schools to requiring masks, it’s all a patchwork), and no one can guarantee that it’s impossible to get sick from flying.

One bit of good news about airline travel and Covid: The likelihood of getting sick as a result of filtered and circulated cabin air is low. That’s because most planes use the same kind of HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters that are used in hospital operating rooms to remove infectious particles and viruses from the air. Airborne viral infection on a plane is only likely if you’re stuck sitting near a sick person—not just if a sick person happens to be somewhere on the plane.

Also, we know a lot more about how the coronavirus can spread during air travel than we did at the beginning of the pandemic, and the news is mostly reassuring. The main infection risk of air travel during the pandemic, as recent studies have suggested, isn’t touching the seat-back tray table or even breathing the air in the plane, but rather coming into close, sustained contact with an infected person on the plane with you. Some studies suggest that your risk of infection on an airplane is surprisingly low as long as everybody (including your family) wears masks.

If you do decide to fly, there are ways to reduce your family’s risks—but they involve advance planning, preparation and a not-minuscule amount of tolerance for the hassle. Here’s how to minimize your risks if you do fly:

• Become an expert on your local airport’s check-in, screening and security procedures—these are changing often, and you don’t want to be surprised.
• Download your airline’s app and have your boarding passes pre-loaded on your phone.
• Choose a window seat, or wherever you can be seated farthest from other passengers.
• Some experts suggest checking bags to reduce the number of touch-points for your stuff—but the fact is any luggage you bring is going to be in contact with a lot of surfaces regardless.
• Wear a mask, obviously—all major airlines still require them for passengers older than 2 years of age, except when eating or drinking, and the CDC has provided guidance encouraging airlines to eject passengers who won’t wear masks.
• Eat before or after you go to the airport, so you don’t have to remove your mask to eat while on your flight or to eat in the airport.

Is it safe to fly internationally right now?

Nonessential international travel is discouraged by the CDC unless you are fully vaccinated. However, even vaccinated individuals can still get and spread COVID-19, especially in areas with high rates of transmission. Restrictions also still apply to international travel to and from many countries.

If you do need to fly abroad, be sure to follow local and national public health and travel guidelines for your destination, and during the flight, follow the suggestions above.

Something to be aware of: The CDC has created a global COVID-19 risk assessment map that you can consult here. If you’re planning international travel, you might want to consult this map to learn more about potential risks and restrictions.

Another important note: All air passengers coming to the United States, including U.S. citizens may need to follow certain guidelines too, whether that’s having a negative Covid test result or documentation of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States.

Is it safe to stay at a hotel right now?

Let’s be real: Hotels are full of people you don’t know (who come from all over the place) staying indoors for lengthy periods of time. They definitely don’t meet the optimal “time, space, people, place” criteria for lowering the risk of transmission.

That said, if your family limits time spent in public areas like the lobby, elevators, restaurant or an indoor pool, that can reduce your risk. Wearing masks and maintaining distance outside your room are also must-dos.

Send one person from the family to the lobby to check-in, ride the elevator with as few other people as possible (in some hotels, lobby waits may be long as elevators are restricted to one family unit per ride), wash hands as soon as you enter your room or touch any high-contact surfaces, and ask that housekeeping be suspended during your stay in order to minimize the number of people entering your room.

Is it safe to take a road trip right now?

Driving in a car with members of your family that you’ve already been in daily close contact with is safe, experts say. That said, states’ travel restrictions may change as we head into winter, so if you’re crossing state lines and staying for longer than it takes to refill your gas tank, you will want to be aware of what is expected from out-of-staters.

Is staying with another family safe?

If both families have been limiting their exposure and can agree on certain safety considerations without damaging a valuable relationship, vacationing with another family can be a safe family travel option.

In the best-case scenario, according to experts, both families have been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus within days of departure; both families have been quarantining and limiting their exposure to others; both families agree in advance about what constitutes safety precautions before and during the trip; and, crucially, both families keep to themselves and limit exposure beyond their “bubble” while they are staying together.

This story was originally published June 4, 2020. It has been updated.

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