What to Do If You Get COVID While Traveling

Korin Miller
·7 min read

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In a perfect scenario you’d be the picture of health while traveling. But COVID-19 continues to swirl worldwide, leaving a very real risk that you could pick up the illness on your next trip. It happened to Samantha Saenz, founder of the food and travel blog Eat Well. Adventure Often., while she was on a cruise last year. Saenz says she came down with the virus during the last four days of her 15-day voyage from Florida to California.

“I was initially really tired…and couldn’t figure out why,” she says. But after going on an ATV tour, Saenz says she had body aches and felt lethargic, and that’s when it clicked. “I self-tested, and sure enough I had COVID,” she says. Saenz ended up isolating in her room for the rest of the trip and got a Wi-Fi package so she could work and entertain herself. However, she had to change her original plans to spend time with friends in Los Angeles after the cruise ended. “I felt awful still and was infectious, so I ended up renting a car and driving myself to my friend’s vacant house in [Las] Vegas,” she says. “I spent a week there trying to get better.”

Saenz says the experience turned into a fun side trip, giving her the chance to check out the desert and Las Vegas’s Neon Museum, both of which had been on her bucket list. Of course, though, she would have preferred not to have gotten sick at all. Unfortunately, Saenz isn’t the only person who’s experienced something like this. Here’s what infectious disease doctors recommend doing if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Be honest with your travel buddies

Many people don’t want to come out and say they have COVID-19, but it’s important to tell the people you’re traveling with to help lower the odds you’ll spread the illness, says William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

If you were planning to share a hotel room with someone else and can afford it, see if you can get your own space. In a shared house, claim a bedroom you can isolate in, and use a separate bathroom if possible.

Look up your local health care options

If you’re at high risk of becoming seriously ill or developing complications from COVID-19, Dr. Schaffner says it’s best to figure out where to seek medical care at your destination before traveling. You should also get the updated COVID-19 vaccine ahead of your trip. That will lower your chance of infection or severe illness, he points out. But if you’re already away and get ill, it’s worth researching local urgent care facilities and hospitals just in case you end up needing immediate care.

Know when to stop isolating—and keep masking

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s fine to be out and about if it’s been 24 hours since you had a fever (without the help of fever-reducing drugs) and your symptoms have improved during that time. Still, the agency recommends wearing a high-quality mask for five days after isolation if you’ll be in contact with anyone.

Related: How To Avoid Catching Covid While Flying

That’s less important when you’re outside and keeping your distance from other people, Dr. Schaffner says. “The risk of infecting others when you’re outdoors goes way down,” he says. But he points out that you can still spread the virus when you’re in close quarters outside, making it important to wear a mask if you’re, say, standing in line at a theme park or attending a crowded outdoor concert.

Try to get some downtime

Everybody knows that rest is key to recovery, but it can be hard to slow down when you have plans. Saenz took it easy once she tested positive for COVID-19 on her cruise. However, she says she probably pushed herself too hard afterward. “When I got off the ship in Los Angeles, I still had to get my rental car and drive myself to Vegas,” she says. “I felt so awful, and looking back maybe I should have just gotten an Airbnb in Los Angeles, but I wanted to know I was safe at my friend’s house.”

Even if you’re vaccinated COVID-19 can make you feel drained, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University at Buffalo’s medical school. Of course, if you’re still infectious, you should avoid activities where there’s a chance you’ll spread the virus. But even if your plans don’t put others at risk, Dr. Russo suggests taking a day or two to rest instead of sticking with your original schedule. “That can make things worse for you,” he notes.

Look into your airline’s policy

Airline policies can be a little tricky to navigate, even when it comes to something out of your control like COVID-19. Whether you can change or cancel your flight (and how much it costs to do so) often depends on what sort of ticket you bought. For example, business class tickets may offer more flexibility than economy fares, though it varies by airline and can change once you’re within 24 hours of your scheduled departure. Travel insurance might cover a COVID-19 cancellation, but you’ll have to check your policy. You can also try calling the airline and explaining your situation to see if they’ll make an exception to their rules. “There is some latitude for serious illnesses, but whether they’ll afford you that for COVID versus hospitalization, I’m not sure,” Dr. Russo says.

Tempting as it may be to fly while you’re still infectious to save money, doctors say you shouldn’t. “The people around you will be sitting ducks,” Dr. Schaffner says. On top of that, you can end up feeling worse, says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. If you’re already dealing with shortness of breath, it will only get worse when you’re at a high altitude, he says. But if you’re just experiencing symptoms like fatigue or a residual cough, Dr. Adalja says travel shouldn’t be a problem. However, you should still wear a mask to protect others.

Related: How to Get a Refund If You’re Too Sick to Fly

Be as flexible as possible

Pivoting from your vacation itinerary can be tough, but getting sick doesn’t mean you’re out of options. Saenz says she considered several possibilities when her cruise ended, including continuing to isolate on board during the ship’s next voyage or starting her journey home in a rental car and catching a flight once she was no longer infectious. “I still have friends in Austin [where I used to live], and I have never seen Arizona or New Mexico, so I thought it could be fun just to jump in a rental and drive,” she says. “The thing to remember is there is always a solution, so just try to stay calm and think about what would be best for you and others.”

While Saenz says it was no fun being sick, she ultimately had a better time than she thought she would after testing positive. “All in all, it ended up being an even better trip than expected because of my little side quests I got to go on,” she says.

Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler

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