The U.S. travel community listened intently to the latest message from HHS and DHS officials regarding the possibility of COVID-19 spreading within the United States, and will continue to watch for developments.

While the government has not suggested limiting domestic travel, or imposing restrictions on international inbound travel beyond those already in place, this is clearly a rapidly evolving situation.

Travel industry leaders will continue to engage health and security authorities on any planned or anticipated coronavirus-related measures that would impact travel.Mueller has a master’s degree in mathematics from Northern Illinois University and speaks regularly as a subject matter expert for national and state medical societies.

The travel restrictions that have been put in place on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are currently specific to China:

• Any foreign national who has been in China in the last 14 days may not enter the U.S.
• American citizens and permanent residents who have been in China in the past 14 days will be allowed to enter the United States, but will be redirected to one of 11 airports to undergo health screening. Depending on their health and travel history, they will have some level of restrictions on their movements for 14 days from the time they departed China.
• Additionally, the U.S. State Department has advised U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution” when considering travel TO South Korea or Japan; however, there are no additional protocols for travel FROM those countries.

With the situation evolving rapidly, we encourage the traveling public to follow any guidance offered by the CDC and local and state public health authorities. 

U.S. health officials are urging the same personal best practices that are standard for a typical flu season—frequent washing of hands, etc.