It’s the height of summer: planes and cruises are packed, hotels are full, and travelers are flocking to theme parks and attractions. Yet across the United States, COVID-19 is currently circulating at very high levels.
At the height of the pandemic, masks were ubiquitous in hotels, airports and other public places. They were required when flying, and many travelers wore them everywhere else to help reduce transmission of the deadly coronavirus. Since the end of the mandate, and as travel has returned to or surpassed pre-pandemic levels, most travelers have ditched preventative measures, especially masks.
Updated vaccines won’t be available until the fall, and experts are reminding travelers of the benefits of wearing masks, especially in airports and poorly ventilated indoor environments.
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Here’s what you need to know about masks and your travel plans.
What’s going on with COVID right now?
The number of reported cases appears to be increasing in the United States and abroad. In the United States, virus concentrations in wastewater samples are “very high,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The World Health Organization reported that cases worldwide increased by 30% between June 24 and July 21, compared to the previous 28 days. In other words, there are a lot of COVID-19 cases.
How effective are masks? What is the best mask to use?
People who want to minimize their risk of respiratory illnesses like COVID (as well as colds and flu) should wear a mask when traveling, experts recommend. Even if you’re the only person wearing one on a train or in an airport, a mask still offers protection, as long as you wear it properly—that is, it covers both your nose and mouth.
“It doesn’t eliminate the risk, but it significantly reduces the risk of exposure,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development at Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System in Missouri. Opt for a high-quality mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94, all of which filter out the vast majority of viral particles and are much more effective at reducing the risk of COVID infection than cloth or surgical versions. Masks should fit snugly on your face.
“If you have symptoms and you have questions about it, I would recommend wearing a mask, just to protect others,” said Dr. Marc Sala, co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive COVID-19 Center in Chicago. Common symptoms of COVID include cough, fever, sneezing, congestion, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and gastrointestinal issues. People who are asymptomatic but have been exposed to COVID may also consider wearing a mask.
If you tested positive while traveling but cannot delay your departure, you should wear a mask whenever you are around other people, Sala said.
Where should travelers wear a mask?
The CDC urges travelers to “consider wearing masks in crowded or poorly ventilated indoor areas, including on public transportation and at transportation hubs.”
Al-Aly recommends having a few masks in your bag or pockets, so you have them handy when entering a crowded indoor space. “Stay aware of the situation,” he said. If you’re in a crowded indoor space, like a train station or a busy museum, you may want to wear a mask. While airplanes filter and circulate air, there’s still a risk associated with being around large groups of people, Al-Aly said.
What is the travel industry’s position on mask wearing?
Mandating masks on planes became a hot topic at the height of the pandemic, with travel industry officials saying it was hurting the recovery of a hard-hit industry.
The U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the country, believes that mask-wearing should be left to travelers’ discretion. It hailed the lifting of mask mandates on U.S. transportation in 2022 as “another step toward managing the COVID endemic.” That position has not changed.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), another industry group, says planes are designed to reduce virus transmission on board. “Cabin air is changed every two to three minutes, much more frequently than in most other indoor environments,” the agency said in a statement. “It is also filtered and circulated from the ceiling to the floor, helping to maintain a healthy environment on board.”
Passengers still have the option to wear masks, the statement continued, and many airlines provide them upon request.
Major cruise lines are not requiring passengers to wear masks, but they do require them to undergo a health screening before boarding a ship, and some lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, are encouraging passengers to be up-to-date on their COVID vaccines.
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