Nov 23
Air Travel in the Pandemic: Infectious Disease Physician Comments on CDC Report
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report showing that airport screenings of 766,044 travelers from certain countries between January 17, 2020, and September 13, 2020 had detected only about one case of COVID-19 per 85,000 travelers screened. The implications for public health, according to the report, begin with the following: “Symptom-based screening programs are ineffective because of the nonspecific clinical presentation of COVID-19 and asymptomatic cases.”
In an article about the research, AOL talked to experts including Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician in Akron, Ohio, and a professor of internal medicine.
“Travelers really need to reflect on whether their travel is absolutely necessary,” Dr. Watkins told AOL. “Flying, along with a lot of other things, is risky, and I would recommend against it.”
