“The main thing with this case is that when you test somebody for coronavirus, you may just miss it. You might not have peak viral replication yet,” says Brad Pollock, the associate dean of public health sciences at the University of California at Davis. “It takes your body a good three to five days of incubation, and if it’s day four then you might test negative. But 12 hours later you could go from a low viral count to millions.”
As more people choose to travel, some U.S. airlines and airports are providing rapid coronavirus tests to travelers — for a price. But if you do travel this holiday season, health experts recommend driving over flying.
But what about holiday gatherings? Are they safe, even if everyone is masked and six feet apart?
“That’s easier said than done in family gatherings. It becomes more difficult when people want to see family members they haven’t seen in a while,” says Sandro Galea, the dean at Boston University’s School of Public Health. “My general advice is that people get tested before seeing more elderly family members, but that they also use other precautions,” including wearing masks, distancing and frequently washing hands.