CDC urges Americans to limit travel as US COVID-19 cases reach 30 million

CDC reiterates that Americans should 'please limit travel' as US hits 30 million cases of COVID-19 Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, reiterated that travel should be limited to only what's essential as the U.S. hit 30 million COVID-19 cases. Morgan Hines USA TODAY

As the United States hit another milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic Monday, with more than 30 million COVID-19 cases, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reiterated during a White House COVID-19 briefing that Americans should limit travel.

Travel, she explained, only exacerbates the spread of COVID-19. 

"What we're seeing now is more travel than we saw – than we saw throughout the pandemic, including the Christmas and New Year's holidays," she said. "I think people have taken advantage of what they perceived as a relative paucity of cases, a relative lull in where we were, to take advantage of their time of spring break, of holiday travel."

She added that the country has seen a COVID-19 case surge following every holiday since the pandemic's onset. "I would just sort of reiterate the recommendations from CDC, saying please limit travel to essential travel for the time being." ...

The CDC has maintained its advice not to travel throughout the pandemic. That recommendation extends to people who have been vaccinated, the agency said earlier this month.

"Because of the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 during travel, fully vaccinated people should still take all CDC-recommended precautions before, during, and after travel," read a CDC statement provided to USA TODAY by spokesperson Caitlin Shockey.

"While we work to vaccinate more people, prevention measures such as pre- and post-travel testing and post-travel self-quarantine, along with wearing well-fitted masks, will help us prevent spread of COVID-19," the CDC said. ...