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COVID-19 international travel advisories

Visitors to the U.S. do not need to be tested or vaccinated for COVID-19. U.S. citizens going abroad, check Department of State travel advisories for the country you will visit.

COVID-19 testing and vaccine rules for entering the U.S.

You do not need to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or take a COVID-19 test to enter the U.S. This applies to U.S. citizens and non-citizens.

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Find country-specific travel advisories, including COVID-19 restrictions, from the Department of State.

See the CDC's COVID-19 guidance for safer international travel to learn:

• If you can travel if you recently had COVID-19
• What you can do to help prevent COVID-19 

LAST UPDATED: May 31, 2024

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Update on Change to U.S. Travel Policy Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for nonimmigrant travel

Worldwide Visa Operations: Update

Employment-Based Fourth Preference (EB-4) Announcement

Suspension of Visa Services in Sudan

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Department of State/AILA Liaison Committee Meeting March 20, 2024

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The Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. This means starting May 12, noncitizen nonimmigrant air passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States. CDC’s Amended Order Implementing Presidential Proclamation on Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic will no longer be in effect when the Presidential Proclamation Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic is revoked .

Please see: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/

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Updated International Air Travel COVID-19 Policy

⚠   The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency expired as of May 11, 2023. This site will no longer be updated and will remain online for historical purposes only.

For current COVID-19 guidance, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .

International travel is critical to connecting families and friends, to fueling small and large businesses, and to promoting the open exchange of ideas and culture. The international air travel policy follows the science and both enhances the safety of Americans here at home and the safety of international air travel.

Testing Requirement

On March 10, 2023, CDC  removed  the requirement for air passengers from China, Hong Kong or Macau to show a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of recovery before boarding a flight to the United States.

Vaccination Requirement

As of 12:01am EDT on May 12, 2023, noncitizen nonimmigrant air passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States. See  here  for more information.

While masks are no longer required on flights, The CDC still recommends wearing them. 

Explainer: Here's what we know about how U.S. will lift travel restrictions

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WHO CAN TRAVEL TO THE UNITED STATES?

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Your chances of getting heat stroke, heat exhaustion, or other heat-related illness during travel depend on your destination, activities, level of hydration, and age. Learn ways to prevent, recognize, and treat heat-related illness .

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See the full list of  Travel Health Notices , including:

Level 2 - Practice Enhanced Precautions

• New   Clade I Mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Neighboring Countries August 07, 2024
• Chikungunya in Maldives May 28, 2024
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CDC Recommendation for Masks and Travel

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, May 3, 2022 Contact: Media Relations (404) 639-3286

At this time, CDC recommends that everyone aged 2 and older – including passengers and workers – properly wear a well-fitting mask or respirator over the nose and mouth in indoor areas of public transportation (such as airplanes, trains, etc.) and transportation hubs (such as airports, stations, etc.). When people properly wear a well-fitting mask or respirator, they protect themselves and those around them, and help keep travel and public transportation safer for everyone. Wearing a well-fitting mask or respirator is most beneficial in crowded or poorly ventilated locations, such as airport jetways. We also encourage operators of public transportation and transportation hubs to support mask wearing by all people, including employees.

This public health recommendation is based on the currently available data, including an understanding of domestic and global epidemiology, circulating variants and their impact on disease severity and vaccine effectiveness, current trends in COVID-19 Community Levels within the United States, and projections of COVID-19 trends in the coming months.

Along with staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, avoiding crowds, wearing a well-fitting mask or respirator is one of multiple prevention steps that people can take to protect themselves and others in travel and transportation settings.

The following can be attributed to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH: 

CDC continues to recommend that all people—passengers and workers, alike—properly wear a well-fitting mask or respirator in indoor public transportation conveyances and transportation hubs to provide protection for themselves and other travelers in these high volume, mixed population settings. We now have a range of tools we need to protect ourselves from the impact of COVID-19, including access to high-quality masks and respirators for all who need them.

Additionally, it is important for all of us to protect not only ourselves, but also to be considerate of others at increased risk for severe COVID-19 and those who are not yet able to be vaccinated. Wearing a mask in indoor public transportation settings will provide protection for the individual and the community.

### U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether disease start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.

This webpage presents data on COVID-19 cases with information on pregnancy status reported to CDC. COVID-19 is a nationally notifiable disease and reporting cases to CDC is supported by routine case notification through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), as well as resources provided through the CDC COVID-19 response. As of March 2022, CDC no longer recommends universal case investigation and contact tracing and recommends that health department jurisdictions prioritize specific settings and groups at increased risk. In addition, a decreasing number of case reports include information on pregnancy status. For these reasons CDC will stop reporting data on this page on July 19th, 2022. Information about findings from this data and about CDC’s ongoing data collection efforts to better understand the impact of COVID-19 during pregnancy can be found here .

In March 2022, CDC changed its data collection schedule to every 8 weeks for the nationwide COVID-19 infection-induced antibody seroprevalence (commercial laboratory) survey. It now includes information on antibodies for pediatric age groups (ages 6 months to 17 years). Adult antibody updates will be based on the national blood donor seroprevalence study .

This dashboard, which includes information for all age groups, has been updated through February 2022. Updated pediatric seroprevalence information from March 2022 is available here . CDC currently plans to end the nationwide SARS-CoV-2 antibody studies in December 2022.

Sign up to receive the COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review.

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U.S. to Lift Pandemic Travel Restrictions, Easing Tension With Europe

Travelers who provide proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus before boarding a flight will be able to enter the United States.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs Mark Landler and Heather Murphy

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions starting in November for foreigners who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus , reopening the country to thousands of people, including those who have been separated from family in the United States during the pandemic, and easing a major source of tension with Europe .

The halt to the 18-month ban on travel from 33 countries, including members of the European Union, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India, could help rejuvenate a U.S. tourism industry that has been crippled by the pandemic. The industry suffered a $500 billion loss in travel expenditures in 2020, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the United States.

In New York City alone, the lack of tourists wiped out 89,000 jobs and resulted in a loss of more than $60 billion in revenue, the state comptroller found.

“Everyone says New York is back, New York is back, but it’s not really back until tourists are back from all countries,” said Leyla Saleh, 28, a pastry chef whose father was forced to shut down his gift shop in Midtown Manhattan last year because he did not have enough business.

Foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative coronavirus test within three days of coming to the United States, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said on Monday. Unvaccinated Americans who want to travel home from overseas will have to clear stricter testing requirements. They will need to test negative for the coronavirus one day before traveling to the United States and show proof that they have bought a test to take after arriving in the United States, Mr. Zients said.

The decision comes during a crucial week for Mr. Biden , who will give a speech on Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly and is under pressure from allies frustrated over the travel restrictions , the administration’s haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan and a diplomatic feud with France .

France reacted with fury last week after being left out of a lucrative agreement to develop nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. Paris recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia and described the deal as a stab in the back.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken discussed the deal on Friday with the French ambassador, Philippe Étienne, along with the travel ban, according to a senior State Department official, who said other allies had also expressed concerns about the restrictions. Those discussions helped inform the decision to lift the travel ban, the official said, asking for anonymity to describe sensitive talks.

“International travel is critical to connecting families and friends, to fueling small and large businesses, to promoting the open exchange of ideas and culture,” Mr. Zients said. “That’s why, with science and public health as our guide, we have developed a new international air travel system that both enhances the safety of Americans here at home and enhances the safety of international air travel.”

The changes announced on Monday apply only to air travel and do not affect restrictions along the land border, Mr. Zients said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers people fully inoculated two weeks after they receive the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Those who have received vaccines listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization, such as the AstraZeneca vaccine, would also be considered fully vaccinated, according to a statement from Thomas Skinner, a C.D.C. spokesman.

The C.D.C. will also issue an order directing airlines to collect phone numbers and email addresses of travelers for a new contact-tracing system. Authorities will then follow up with the travelers after arrival to ask whether they are experiencing symptoms of the virus.

Although the new rules open up travel for some, they shut it down for others.

Unvaccinated people will soon be broadly banned from visiting the United States even if they are coming from countries such as Japan, which have not faced restrictions on travel to America during the pandemic. The restrictions will create substantial complications for people who want to travel to the United States from countries where it is more difficult to get vaccinated, according to Willie Walsh, the director general of the International Air Transport Association, a trade group of the world’s airlines.

Mr. Walsh said it was “critical that governments accelerate the global rollout of vaccines” and settle on “a global framework for travel where testing resources are focused on unvaccinated travelers.”

“We must get back to a situation where the freedom to travel is available to all,” he added.

The Trump administration began enforcing the bans against foreign travelers in January 2020 in the hopes of preventing the spread of the virus. The effort was largely unsuccessful, in part because American citizens scrambling to return home encountered porous screenings at U.S. airports upon arrival.

President Biden kept the restrictions on travelers from the European Union, Britain, India and other places, despite pleas from business leaders in need of profits from tourism, foreign workers who traveled overseas to renew visas to work in the United States only to be left stranded , and citizens left separated from their partners abroad .

The White House maintained that the restrictions were necessary, particularly after the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant this summer fueled a rise of coronavirus cases and undermined the central theme of Mr. Biden’s presidency — vaccinating Americans and getting the pandemic under control.

No city in the United States felt the impact of the travel ban like New York, which had the highest share of overseas travel and drew more than 13.5 million foreign visitors in 2019. International arrivals fell by as much as 93 percent in 2020, according to data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the area’s airports.

Mr. Zients cited the pace of vaccinations administered globally as a reason for the administration’s pivot on Monday. The move also came on the eve of a visit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, who was expected to press Mr. Biden to lift the ban. British officials had hoped the president would announce a relaxation of restrictions when he went to England in June for the Group of 7 summit and were disappointed when he did not.

Their frustration has only deepened.

British officials noted that the United States had not imposed a similar ban on people from Caribbean nations, which had a higher rate of infection than Britain, or from Argentina, where a lower percentage of the population was vaccinated. About 82 percent of people in Britain above the age of 16 have had two shots.

Britain and several European Union countries allow fully vaccinated people from the United States to travel without quarantining, and officials there were annoyed when the United States did not reciprocate. The European Union has since reversed itself, and issued a recommendation to its members to put more restrictions on American travelers.

“It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again,” Mr. Johnson said in a tweet.

The ban, European officials point out, has kept families separated since early 2020, when the coronavirus was erupting across Europe. European countries have weathered a third wave of infections propelled by the Delta variant. But in several countries, including Britain, infection rates have begun to level off and even decline.

British newspapers played up the fact that the parents of Emma Raducanu, the British woman who won the U.S. Open tennis tournament, could not travel to New York to watch her play.

Europe is the largest market for passenger flows to and from Britain, according to the International Air Transport Association, but North America is the second biggest, accounting for 10.1 million passengers.

Constantin Film, one of Germany’s biggest production and distribution companies, is based in Munich and has an office in Los Angeles, according to the company’s chief executive, Martin Moszkowicz.

During the 18 months of the travel ban, the company’s investment in the U.S. economy “was basically zero,” Mr. Moszkowicz said. The company had to move the production of two feature films and one show to Canada and South Africa, he said.

For many, the travel ban meant losing time with family.

“I am trying not to cry because it’s such a beautiful day,” said Giovanni Vincenti, 42, an Italian professor who lives in Baltimore. Mr. Vincenti’s daughter, who was born last May, has never met her grandparents because of the travel restrictions.

Cristina Garbarino, 55, a babysitter in Genoa, Italy, said the travel ban put on hold her visa and her plan to get married, and kept her apart from her fiancé, who lives in New Hampshire, for almost two years.

“At my age, I don’t have much time to lose,” she said, “and I lost two years like this.”

Reporting was contributed by Emma Bubola from Rome, Stephen Castle from London, Ceylan Yeginsu from Istanbul and Patrick Wehner from Washington.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent covering a range of domestic and international issues in the Biden White House, including homeland security and extremism. He joined The Times in 2019 as the homeland security correspondent. More about Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief. In 27 years at The Times, he has been bureau chief in Hong Kong and Frankfurt, White House correspondent, diplomatic correspondent, European economic correspondent, and a business reporter in New York. More about Mark Landler

Heather Murphy is a reporter on the Travel desk. She welcomes tips, questions and complaints about traveling during the pandemic. More about Heather Murphy

Inside the Biden Administration

Here’s the latest news and analysis from washington..

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Harmful Weedkiller: In a move not seen for almost 40 years, the E.P.A. issued an emergency order suspending all uses of a weedkiller linked to serious health risks for unborn babies .

Prisoner Swap: For President Biden, the successful negotiation  to free 16 people held by Russia, including three American citizens and a U.S. permanent resident, offered sweet validation  as his term nears its end.

9/11 Plea Deal: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overruled the overseer of the war court at Guantánamo Bay and revoked a plea agreement  reached with the accused plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

TikTok: The Justice Department sued TikTok, accusing it of illegally collecting children’s data  and escalating a long-running battle between the U.S. government and the Chinese-owned app.

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Coronavirus Updates

The coronavirus crisis, u.s. issues more than 115 'do not travel' advisories, citing risks from covid-19.

Bill Chappell

Global travel continues to be risky because of the coronavirus. Earlier this year, passengers from Taiwan wear protective gear as they arrive at France's Charles de Gaulle Airport, and just this week, the U.S. issued over 100 new travel advisories. Francois Mori/AP hide caption

Global travel continues to be risky because of the coronavirus. Earlier this year, passengers from Taiwan wear protective gear as they arrive at France's Charles de Gaulle Airport, and just this week, the U.S. issued over 100 new travel advisories.

The U.S. State Department has vastly expanded its "Do Not Travel list," issuing new Level 4 advisories for more than 115 countries and territories this week. The agency cites "ongoing risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The U.S. Do Not Travel list now includes Canada, Mexico, Germany and the U.K. A Level 3 warning is in place for a smaller group of nations, such as China, Australia and Iceland. Japan is also on the Level 3 list, despite a worrying rise in new coronavirus cases there.

Just a week ago, only 33 countries were on the U.S. Do Not Travel list, according to a cached version of the advisory site . But the State Department warned on Monday that the list would soon include roughly 80% of the world's countries.

More than 150 highest-level travel advisories are in effect — more closely reflecting guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department says.

The CDC's own travel health notices also use a four-tier warning system. For many countries newly added to the State Department's Level 4 list, the CDC cites "a very high level of COVID-19."

As of last week, Brazil and Russia were two of the only large COVID-19 global hotspots on the State Department's most serious warning list. They're now joined by India and virtually all of Europe — places that have seen alarming spikes in new cases.

Bhutan is the only international destination designated as Level 1 — "exercise normal precautions" — on the State Department's travel advisory list.

Sixteen countries are categorized as Level 2 — meaning travelers should exercise increased caution when visiting places such as Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Belize and Grenada.

Many of the new or updated Do Not Travel notices cite high levels of coronavirus transmission in the relevant country. But the State Department says it also takes other factors into account, from the availability of coronavirus testing to any travel restrictions the countries might have against U.S. citizens.

In roughly 35 countries or destinations, the CDC says, details about the level of COVID-19 risk are unknown. The health agency urges Americans to avoid traveling to those spots, which include Afghanistan, Nicaragua and the Solomon Islands.

Regardless of a particular country's advisory status, the State Department wants all U.S. citizens to reconsider any travel abroad.

"The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprecedented risks to travelers," the agency said.

More than 3 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization . Nearly 144 million coronavirus cases have been reported globally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University .

My bags were packed, then I got COVID. What should I do? Travel options to weigh.

I just tested positive for COVID-19. Should I travel anyway?

Variations of that question are spiking on Google Search ( as we experience a significant surge in both summer travel and new coronavirus cases.

If you travel for work or pleasure and haven’t yet dealt with the question of whether to fly with COVID-19, chances are at some point you will. 

President Joe Biden just tested positive while campaigning in Las Vegas. Several Tour de France riders are also dealing with the latest bout of COVID-19. And I picked it up earlier this month during a recent cross-country trip, testing positive just two days before I was supposed to fly to Alaska to help my parents − ages 79 and 85 − move out of their recently sold family home. 

Ethically, I didn’t feel right about getting on a plane knowing I had COVID-19 and certainly couldn’t show up to my parent's house with the virus. But the last-second scramble to rebook the trip, with our dog, my husband, and my parents still needing my help, was super-stressful. 

Learn more: Best travel insurance

Should I fly if I just tested positive for COVID? 

Technically, you can fly sick − no one is going to stop you at the gate and swab your nose − but you shouldn’t. 

Just because the airlines no longer require you to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test ahead of your international flight, as they sometimes did during the earlier years of the pandemic, doesn’t mean travel should be a germ free-for-all. 

“I suggest that you not fly,” Vicki Sowards, director of nursing resources at Passport Health, wrote via email. “You can expose the other travelers on your flight, and the process of traveling can contribute to fatigue and an increase in symptoms.”

If you know you have COVID-19, or think you might, you should not get on a plane, according to health experts, the CDC , and everyone who weighed in on my social media pages this past week. 

“Should you travel if you have COVID? Absolutely not. Other people are immunocompromised, so essentially, you could kill innocent people,” says 56-year-old Nick Longo from Corpus Christi, Texas. Longo travels outside America “at least once a year” and flies within the U.S. frequently. “Do I think a lot of people are flying with it right now? Yes. People who don't care about others are (flying).That's why it spread.” 

Mike Hensley, 54, of Northern California, agrees.

“It's a simple answer,'' he wrote. "No. You should not travel. That's how viruses spread quickly. But yes, I am sure people are traveling while positive because they think it's a seasonal allergy or cold, have convinced themselves they don't feel that bad, or are already on the upswing (and don't know/care about how viruses work) or are simply just selfish and don't care about the people they are exposing.”

I’ve been on a dozen planes over the past few months, and anecdotally, it’s true that a lot of people are sniffling, sneezing and coughing − with nary a mask in sight. 

Another traveler told me she knew three people who flew to Europe from California even though they had COVID-19. She and her parents, on the other hand, changed their travel plans last month when they came down with the virus, delaying their flight until they had tested negative for three days.

Should I wear a mask on the plane? 

The CDC , World Health Organization , Mayo Clinic and many other medical professionals agree masks help lower the risk of respiratory virus transmission, especially in tight quarters, like planes, trains, buses and automobiles.  Officials say N95 masks are the most effective. 

Anecdotally, there seems to be a lot of people choosing to fly unmasked − either knowing they have COVID-19 or not testing to find out when they have symptoms. There’s no doubt people are tired of masks and the pandemic, and many are likely treating COVID-19 like the seasonal flu or a cold − something they’ll just have to deal with when they get it. 

Some people even wrote on my social media pages that when it comes to travel, they are not concerned about passing the virus on to others because they feel it's a risk people knowingly take when they get on a plane these days. 

That last sentiment struck a nerve with me because I suspect that's how I contracted COVID-19 two Julys in a row, right after cross-country work trips that coincided with peak summer travel and virus spikes. 

What should you do if you are COVID-positive right before a planned trip? 

Even though I’m vaccinated and received my last booster in December 2023, I have some risk factors and got so sick from COVID-19 last summer that I couldn’t do much of anything for about two weeks.

I initially thought I was experiencing seasonal allergies and waited a few days before testing. By the time I did, I was already pretty sick. I had extreme headaches, head and chest congestion, muscle aches and fatigue, and I lost my sense of taste and smell for almost two months.

This summer was different. Even though I barely had a tickle in the back of my throat, I was tired and achy and knew something was off, so I took a test right away. When it came back positive, I started on Paxlovid immediately and pushed the trip to Alaska back. 

I didn’t fly until my test was negative, and I still wore a mask the entire time I was on the plane. (I didn’t eat or drink the entire flight.) I will continue to wear one indoors until every last symptom (I still have slight sniffles) goes away, even though I’ve now met the latest guidelines of having two negative tests 48 hours apart. It’s not worth the risk of getting my parents − or anyone else − sick. 

I admit, I’ve gotten much more lax about masking up on planes this past year. I often feel a little self-conscious being one of the only people wearing one, but getting sick isn’t worth it. I plan to wear one on all upcoming flights. 

What are the latest CDC guidelines? 

I have several friends who, as long as they are feeling well enough, are expected to put on a mask and go back into the office for work, even with COVID-19. What exactly are the rules now?

The latest CDC guidelines , updated in March, say you can go  back to your normal activities if you meet two requirements:

• You have been fever-free for at least 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medications) .
• Your symptoms are improving overall.

You might still be contagious, however, and the CDC recommends that for at least five days after resuming your routine, you:  

• Wash your hands frequently.
• Practice physical distancing (especially from people with risk factors from respiratory illness).
• Take additional steps for cleaner air .

In addition to the CDC guidelines,  the FDA recommends “2 negative antigen tests for individuals with symptoms or three antigen tests for those without symptoms, performed 48 hours apart” before you go back to being around people. 

Travel insurance: What are the most affordable options?

What if I can’t afford to quarantine or be sick away from home? 

The costs of flight changes, extended stays, and even additional time away from work add up. Does that mean you should stop traveling? No, but you should have a COVID-19 plan that protects others, Richard Martinello , medical director of infection prevention at Yale New Haven Health in Connecticut, told Outside Magazine recently. 

Martinello urges people to consider the moral and ethical ramifications of putting other people in harm’s way, “like not drunk driving,” he said. “Putting yourself in prolonged close contact with fellow travelers when you are knowingly sick, whether with COVID or any other contagious virus, is irresponsible. You never know who you’re sitting next to on a plane. If they’re immune-compromised, even a cold could push them over the edge to serious illness.”

Be sure to check your airline’s COVID-19 policies before you buy your ticket. Many still waive change fees for travelers who need to reschedule because they have the virus. For even more protection, book a ticket that can be changed or credited if you have to cancel your flight, and look into travel insurance . 

I almost always fly Alaska Airlines and usually pay a little extra to make my trip 100% refundable, no matter what. I didn’t do that for this latest flight (to save $280 for my husband and me) and ended up paying one $37 change fee for the difference in ticket prices between the day I was supposed to fly and the day I did. Many airlines will also give you full credit for a future flight if you have to cancel because of illness. 

How can I stay safe while traveling?

Passport Health’s Vicki Sowards says being prepared is vital. She urges travelers to get vaccinations like COVID-19 boosters before travel and pack a first aid kit, including any medications they use when they’re ill. 

“You want optimal health when going on the ‘trip of a lifetime,’” she said. Because COVID-19 spreads through airborne particles and droplets, “take a mask and sanitizer on the plane, just in case you have a seatmate or other traveler close by who is coughing and appears to be ill. Use hand sanitizer before eating or when you know you will be touching your face.”

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] . 

Is this the biggest Covid summer wave ever?

The U.S. is in what may end up being its biggest summer wave of Covid, with no end yet in sight. 

“If you just talk about infections, this is probably going to end up becoming the largest summer wave we’ve had,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former White House Covid-19 response coordinator. “It’s still not as big as the winter waves, but it is starting to get close.” 

It's not only in the U.S. There's been a worldwide surge in infections in recent weeks, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for Covid at the World Health Organization, said in a briefing this week . The proportion of tests coming back positive for Covid in Europe is above 20%, with wastewater data suggesting case numbers may be two to 20 times higher than what's being reported, Van Kerkhove said.

The best way to estimate how much virus the U.S. is coping with is wastewater data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , because many people just test at home when they get sick, if they test at all.  

Nationally, the CDC tracker lists levels of Covid as "high," with the Western U.S., including Texas and California, showing some of the highest levels of virus. Eastern states, such Florida and North Carolina, are also reporting very high levels of virus in the community.

Wastewater can't identify how many cases a day there are; coronavirus levels are much higher nationwide than they were this time last year.

This year’s summer wave also began earlier than last year’s, Jha said. Case numbers started rising in early June, compared with July and August 2023.

Jha expects this wave to peak in the next few weeks, with case numbers becoming much lower around September — about the time the updated Covid vaccines targeting the KP.2 strain , a descendant of the JN.1 variant, should be available.

The new vaccines should get final approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks. At that point, the CDC will recommend who should be first in line for the shots.

Jha said that to protect against a winter surge, you should aim to get vaccinated in October at the earliest, although any time before Thanksgiving should be fine.

Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, didn't expect the summer waves to be so pronounced four years into Covid.

“I, and many other virologists, thought that we probably would see summer waves for maybe another one or two years, but we didn’t expect them to increase significantly,” he said. “We thought they would continue to just sort of be smaller and smaller as time went on, as we transition to what we hope is going to be just one winter surge of Covid cases per year.”

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The latest CDC f orecast has a mixture of variants currently in circulation including, KP.3, KP.3.1.1 and KP.2.3, descendants of the JN.1 version of the virus that was circulating earlier this year. Some scientists collectively refer to the variants as “FLiRT” — a reference to their genetic changes — and they are believed to be some of the most contagious yet. 

The factors behind the current spread are most likely the more transmissible variants, combined with people’s spending more time indoors because of hot weather, he said. 

“Besides that, there’s not much that we can sort of put our finger on to say this is what’s driving this summer surge," Pekosz said.

For the most part, hospitalizations for Covid this year have remained lower than last year. In recent summer months , there has been a slight uptick , with levels higher than they were this time last year. Fortunately, deaths due to Covid remain the fewest they have ever been.

“We’re seeing people that are getting admitted and test positive for Covid, but the severe pulmonary complications of Covid-19 are extremely rare,” said Dr. Michael Phillips, chief hospital epidemiologist for NYU Langone Health in New York City. “Where we see the dramatic increase in numbers is people that are coming into our [emergency department] or people coming into our ambulatory sites who test positive and go home.”

The test positivity rate at NYU Langone Health, or the proportion of patients with symptoms who test positive for Covid, is 12%, a sixfold increase in just the last couple of months.

Last month it had 1,357 positive tests, over twice as many as in July 2023, when it had 562 positive tests. Just 12 of the Covid patients last month were admitted to the hospital for Covid-related illnesses.

“Our hospitalization rates are down, so even if we are testing and seeing more [Covid], it seems to be having less of an impact on our susceptible populations,” Phillips said.

Jha said that what happens this winter is impossible to predict but that there could be a silver lining to a large summer wave.

“A big summer wave tends to lead to a little bit of a smaller winter wave and vice versa, just because there’s a little bit more immunity in the population,” he said. 

Akshay Syal, M.D., is a medical fellow with the NBC News Health and Medical Unit. 

Fact Check: About The Claim that Kamala Harris Said 220M People in US Died of COVID-19

U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris said 220 million people in the United States died of COVID-19.

Correct Attribution ( About this rating? )

Harris misspoke, saying "million" instead of "thousand."

As Kamala Harris' presidential campaign gathered momentum in August 2024, a video of the U.S. vice president in which she purportedly claimed 220 million people in the U.S. had died from COVID-19 began to circulate on TikTok :

This footage also appeared on X and on Instagram , and readers brought it to our attention. The video first appeared on Facebook during the 2020 presidential campaign, in which Harris was President Joe Biden's running mate. People pointed out that Harris could not count, as the U.S. population at the time was about 330 million, which would have meant that two-thirds of the country's inhabitants would have died.

We found the source of the video on C-SPAN . It was a recording of a campaign event Harris held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 21, 2020, about two weeks before the 2020 election. Here it is, in its entirety:

Twenty five minutes and 37 seconds into the video, Harris detailed the public health crisis the U.S. was facing at the time from the COVID-19 pandemic. Her full quote read (emphasis ours): 

We're looking at over 220 million people who just over the last several months, died. You know, it breaks your heart. Many people who without their loved ones, because of the nature of the virus, without somebody to be there with them in the hospital and hold their hand, in their last days on Earth, were by themselves. We're looking at over 8 million people in our country who have contracted the virus with untold long-term impact. We're looking at over 30 million people that because of the economic impact of this virus, have had to file for unemployment.

Snopes can therefore confirm that the video is authentic and that Harris did say the quote. Looking at the statistics compiled by Our World in Data , we were able to verify that global deaths due to COVID-19 had reached 1.2 million on Oct 21, 2020, including 350,093 deaths in North America:

Looking at cumulative deaths in Our World in Data solely for the U.S. , it became clear that Harris had said "million" instead of "thousand" — by the day she spoke, the number of deaths in the United States had just surpassed 220,000:

'Cumulative Confirmed COVID-19 Cases and Deaths'. Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cumulative-deaths-and-cases-covid-19?country=~USA . Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

'Cumulative Confirmed COVID-19 Deaths by World Region'. Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cumulative-covid-deaths-region . Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

Senator Kamala Harris Campaigns in Charlotte, North Carolina | C-SPAN.Org. https://www.c-span.org/video/?477200-1/senator-kamala-harris-campaigns-charlotte-north-carolina . Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

US COVID markers continue steady rise

Antonio_Diaz/iStock

COVID activity continues to increase across much of the United States, with an upward trend in all regions, but with some regional differences, according to the latest updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The brisk pace of infections comes amid ongoing shifts towards more immune evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants and waning immunity from earlier infections and vaccination. In its latest variant proportion update, the CDC said the percentage of KP.3.1.1 sequences jumped from 14.4% to 27.8% over the past 2 weeks. The variant is cutting into the proportion of its parent variant KP.3, which currently makes up 21.1% of sequences.

Nationally, test positivity is 16.3%, up slightly from the previous week. Levels are highest in Texas and surrounding states, averaging 25.7%, followed by the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Northwest. 

ED visits highest in parts of South

Emergency department visits for COVID make up only 2.2% of visits, but rose 12.1% in the most recent reporting week. The highest levels—all in the moderate range— were in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Hawaii.

Hospitalization levels remain elevated, especially in seniors, the CDC said. 

Deaths from COVID were up 25% compared to the previous week, but overall, COVID is responsible for only 1.5% of all deaths. 

Wastewater levels high, with regional variations

CDC wastewater tracking shows that SARS-CoV-2 detections remain at the high level. The highest levels in the current surge have been in the West, but detections continue to rise steadily in all US regions, most sharply in the South. At the end of July, detections in the West dipped slightly but are now on the rise again.

The latest data from WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, show that SARS-CoV-2 levels are at the high level nationally, with an upward trend over the past 3 weeks. However, it added that it saw no significant up or down trend in the Northeast and West.

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This week's top reads

In the latest variant update, the CDC said the proportion of KP.3.1.1 jumped from 14.4% to 27.8% over the last 2 weeks.

CDC updates mpox alert amid expansion in African outbreaks

Though the risk remains very low, the CDC and state partners continue to look for the clade, including in wastewater samples.

US COVID activity continues to pick up

Wastewater detections have now jumped to the "very high" level.

Mpox cases spiking in 10 African nations

Some of the cases have been caused by what researchers are calling "clade 1b," a new mpox lineage identified in the DR Congo last year that is highly transmissible.

WHO considers public health emergency as mpox cases mount in Africa

Over the weekend South Africa said it now has 22 cases of the virus.

USDA confirms more H5N1 in dairy cows, wild birds, and small mammals

The latest confirmations also include more wild birds and small mammals from Weld County, a Colorado hit hard by dairy cow and poultry outbreaks.

Notably, 95 of 353 participants (27%) reported occupational change.

Clinicians detail H5N1 infections in 2 Michigan farm workers

One patient had conjunctivitis in one eye, and the other had longer-lasting flulike symptoms.

Colorado's bulk-tank testing IDs more avian flu in dairy herds

In related developments, Colorado's governor recently extended an emergency declaration that frees up more resources to battle the outbreaks.

Deaths from COVID-19 dropped by 69% in 1 year.

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An update on economic conditions for travelers and the travel industry.

August 07, 2024 By Joshua Friedlander, Vice President, Research

The volatility of markets over the last few days has raised important questions about economic health globally, for the U.S. and for the travel industry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released employment figures for July that showed fewer new jobs created than prior months, and an increased unemployment rate of 4.3%.

Despite these challenges, the data continues to reflect a resilient and responsive travel industry—an encouraging sign given travel’s essential role in our nation’s economic success and global competitiveness. While many travel indicators have remained positive, we recognize that the industry is not immune to overall economic trends.

Travel Industry Jobs Continue to Increase

• The travel industry, along with related sectors, has added 18,000 jobs over the most recent two reported months.
• The July jobs report shows the Leisure and Hospitality (L&H) sector now employs nearly 17 million people, up almost 300,000 year-over-year.
• With strong demand for travel, at least 1 million jobs remain open, bolstering the case for an expanded H-2B guest worker program to support small and seasonal businesses.

Strong Desire for Travel

• Demand for domestic leisure travel through the summer and into fall remains strong, with 92% of American travelers planning trips within the next six months.
• Travel volume up 5.9% for June and July compared to last year.
• Summer travel has resulted in at least seven record-setting days.
• International visits continue to recover towards pre-COVID levels, with year-to-date international inbound visitors up 18% in 2024.

Travel-Related Goods Had Lower Inflation

• Based on U.S. Travel’s TPI as well as BLS economic data, inflation has cooled, and travel prices have not risen as fast as prices overall.

As the leading advocate for the $1.3 trillion travel industry, U.S. Travel will continue to analyze and communicate the impact of these economic trends on travelers, the travel experience and the industry as a whole. 

In This The Itinerary

U.S. Travel Association

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