Your questions, answered "My wife and I are fully vaccinated, with boosters (Moderna) and are planning to fly to a distant state to visit our young grandsons for a week. Our concern is what we could do if we got covid-19 while we are away from our home. For example, would we have to quarantine in our hotel? Our family does not have enough room for us to stay with them. And when might we be allowed to fly home?" — Ronald in Florida The CDC's isolation guidelines are the same whether you're traveling or not: People who test positive, even those without symptoms, need to isolate immediately to prevent the virus from spreading. If you test positive while traveling, seek medical care if your symptoms are severe or if you're at high risk of severe illness. Otherwise, find a place to hunker down and isolate for 10 days. The CDC is explicit about this. "Do not travel until a full 10 days after your symptoms started or the date your positive test was taken if you had no symptoms," the agency says on its website. This is without a doubt easier said than done when you're far from home. If you can't safely stay with relatives or friends, a hotel may be your only other viable option. Consider a residential-style hotel with a small stove and microwave that will allow you to cook your own food. Ask the staff whether a contactless check-in is possible, and wear a well-fitted, high-quality mask at all times around others. The CDC says you can end isolation after five full days if your symptoms have improved and if you've been fever-free for 24 hours at the end of that period without the help of a fever-reducing medicine. But the agency says you should still avoid travel for an additional five days. Keep isolating if your symptoms haven't improved, and seek medical care if they get worse. Once you hit the 10-day mark, you're free to leave isolation and head back home, provided you're not severely ill. If you must travel before the recommended 10 days have passed, make sure to mask up the entire time and minimize contact with those around you. Exercise extreme caution in the airport and on the flight. If you drove or can rent a car to get back, your risk of exposing others will be lower, but you should still follow the same guidelines. Ten days of hotel and meal costs can add up quickly. If you're worried about getting infected while you're away — perhaps you're going to a place where cases are still running high — you may look into purchasing travel insurance. Policies and prices vary, but you should be able to find plans that cover these expenses in the event that you do test positive. As always, the best way to avoid getting covid-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted. Mask up in public, stay away from people who are sick or unvaccinated, and practice good hand hygiene. Following those steps will reduce your odds of testing positive and help you enjoy your trip without concerns about the virus hanging over you. | 
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