US: Travel guidance eased as CDC says vaccinated people at low risk

Federal authorities said fully vaccinated people can resume recreational travel in the US at “low risk,” and signaled a relaxation of operational guidelines for cruise ships, handing a major boost to the nation’s battered tourism industry. Releasing its long-awaited travel guidance Friday, the US CDC said vaccinated individuals don’t need a Covid test and don’t need to quarantine, when traveling domestically. They should still wear a mask and avoid crowds. Carriers including United are already flying at as much as 80% of capacity, and 1.6m people passed through TSA checkpoints on Thursday, well above the 124,000 who did so a year before. For international travel, people don’t need a test unless it’s required by their destination country and don’t need to quarantine once back in the US, but should be tested before boarding a return flight. The head of the CDC said she still recommends against non-essential travel -- even for vaccinated people -- but that the agency has a duty to update its guidance as more science becomes available. “We know that right now we have a surging number of cases. I would advocate against general travel overall,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a White House briefing. “Our guidance is silent on recommending or not recommending fully vaccinated people travel; our guidance speaks to the safety of doing so. If you are vaccinated, it’s lower risk.”<br/>