Speaker 1: It's Monday, August thirty one. I'm Oscar Ramires from the
Speaker 1: Daily Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.
Speaker 1: Are you getting ready to travel during the pandemic. There's
Speaker 1: a lot to know about testing before you get out there.
Speaker 1: Some places require proof of a negative test before you arrive,
Speaker 1: and other locations require that you quarantine before you can
Speaker 1: move freely. There's also the question of timing so you
Speaker 1: can get a result in time. Natalie Compton, reporter at
Speaker 1: the Washington Post, tells us what you need to know.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Natalie, thank you. We wanted to
Speaker 1: talk about travel amid the coronavirus pandemic right now. Just
Speaker 1: a very quick story. I had been planning a trip
Speaker 1: for several months. I was gonna go to Hawaii for
Speaker 1: vacation middle of September, and we kept watching all of
Speaker 1: the rules changing. You know, you've got a quarantine for
Speaker 1: fourteen days. I know a lot of states are doing
Speaker 1: different rules like that. For a time, there was gonna
Speaker 1: be a thing, you know, if you test seventy two
Speaker 1: hours before test negative, you don't have to do the quarantine.
Speaker 1: But rules kept changing so much. Unfortunately, I just had
Speaker 1: to cancel the trip. There was not much I could do.
Speaker 1: But Natalie, you wrote an article about everything we need
Speaker 1: to know about getting tested before you travel and kind
Speaker 1: of how do you time it out. You've got to
Speaker 1: get that sweet spot going to where you figure out
Speaker 1: you can get your results back before you go on
Speaker 1: your trip, things like that. So tell us about getting
Speaker 1: tested and traveling right now. I think, like everything with
Speaker 1: the pandemic, this is a confusing topic that doesn't have
Speaker 1: a really straightforward answer because getting a test is not
Speaker 1: as easy as going and getting a flu shot right now,
Speaker 1: right they are still figuring out how to treat coronavirus.
Speaker 1: They're still coming out with new tests every day. In
Speaker 1: some places, you can't get a test unless you are
Speaker 1: sick or a doctor prescribes a test for you. So
Speaker 1: it is something that the CDC supports getting a test
Speaker 1: before you travel because it could reduce the risk of
Speaker 1: spreading it if you go somewhere, or if you get
Speaker 1: a test when you return, maybe you wouldn't have to
Speaker 1: quarantine in your home state. But it's not always going
Speaker 1: to be easy for travelers to do. So where do
Speaker 1: we go to get our tests? I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of different options and all but some of them
Speaker 1: are free testing sites, some of you have to pay for.
Speaker 1: Where should we be looking to see where we can
Speaker 1: actually get a test? So I spoke with Dr Lynn Chen,
Speaker 1: who is an expert in the travel medicine world, and
Speaker 1: she recommended that your first step should be to talk
Speaker 1: to your primary care provider because the testing landscape is
Speaker 1: so different depending on where you live. Your primary care
Speaker 1: providers should know what the best options are for you,
Speaker 1: and if that doesn't work for you, you should look
Speaker 1: at both your city or your state health department website
Speaker 1: because more often than not, they're going to have updated
Speaker 1: list of where you can get tests. And there are
Speaker 1: test sites popping up all over. A lot of fire
Speaker 1: departments will have them. You can find them at haw spittles,
Speaker 1: different travel clinics. There's a lot of different ousts, pharmacies
Speaker 1: are doing them. So it comes down to what's available
Speaker 1: near you. Can you get an appointment or is a
Speaker 1: walk in available? And if you need one, maybe you
Speaker 1: need a doctor's prescription to be able to get it done.
Speaker 1: It really varies and the test that you want, you
Speaker 1: want to get a diagnostic test. I know there's testing
Speaker 1: for anybody's and all that, but you want that diagnostic
Speaker 1: test to see if you had the virus at that moment. Basically,
Speaker 1: right you want to see do I have the coronavirus
Speaker 1: right now? Because I don't want to spread it as
Speaker 1: I travel or if you're going to go see loved ones,
Speaker 1: you obviously don't want to give it to your loved ones.
Speaker 1: One thing that Dr Chen did note is that right now,
Speaker 1: not all of the coronavirus tests are accurate. So you
Speaker 1: may get the negative test results think I'm good to go,
Speaker 1: but there is a chance that you got the test
Speaker 1: too early or the test reveals a false result. So
Speaker 1: it is something that you can take some comfort in
Speaker 1: but know that you are It's not fool proof. It's
Speaker 1: not now. This is probably the big one is the
Speaker 1: timing of the test. And this is the one that
Speaker 1: I was so nervous about because some of the rules are,
Speaker 1: you know, seventy two hours before you travel and all,
Speaker 1: and it's like, well, if I take my test here,
Speaker 1: will I get my results by the time I'm flying away.
Speaker 1: That was one of the big concerns. So that's the
Speaker 1: timing of it is one of the most crucial parts
Speaker 1: of it in your case going to a place like Hawaii,
Speaker 1: are going to a place where you need to show
Speaker 1: proof that you have a negative test. It can be
Speaker 1: really tricky to plan getting the test back in time
Speaker 1: because in a lot of places we're seeing delays in
Speaker 1: return tests. So right now away to have less test
Speaker 1: timing anxiety, Dr Chen said to try to plan this
Speaker 1: out way ahead of time, and once you get your results,
Speaker 1: then you have to deal with Okay, I had to
Speaker 1: quarantine at home for a little longer than I expected.
Speaker 1: That that's better than being denied your trip to a
Speaker 1: place because you didn't get your test back in time.
Speaker 1: But a lot of places are looking at a four
Speaker 1: to five day return time and that is definitely not
Speaker 1: the case everywhere. Though some people it takes twelve days
Speaker 1: to get a result. Some days it could be two days,
Speaker 1: so there's a lot of different things. But ask the
Speaker 1: person where you're getting a test what the estimate should
Speaker 1: be before you do this test, and try to have
Speaker 1: loose travel plans in case you need do accommodate for
Speaker 1: either a positive test results or a delayed test result
Speaker 1: that could change your travel plans. Across your fingers at
Speaker 1: that point, right there, and then and then, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: testing before and after. Should you get tested upon your
Speaker 1: return from your trip? I guess I would depend on
Speaker 1: where you went. If you want to visit a small
Speaker 1: group of family, maybe not so. But if you're doing
Speaker 1: anything that's around a lot of people, you might want
Speaker 1: to get tested when you come back. Absolutely. And I
Speaker 1: spoke with a journalist who had gone on a road
Speaker 1: trip across the country with his niece to drive her
Speaker 1: to college, and he didn't get a test before he
Speaker 1: left for that road trip. He got one at the
Speaker 1: end of his sixth day trip before he could fly
Speaker 1: back to his home state of Maine. Because if you
Speaker 1: don't get that test result, he would have had to
Speaker 1: do a fourteen day quarantine at his home. So to
Speaker 1: avoid that, he got a COVID test on the back
Speaker 1: end of his trip. But also, like you said, if
Speaker 1: you were partaking in any quote unquote higher risk activity
Speaker 1: while you're traveling, you might not want to bring it
Speaker 1: home to your loved ones or your place of work.
Speaker 1: So getting a test after your trip or at the
Speaker 1: end of the trip can help in that case. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and with all of this, you know a negative test
Speaker 1: is not a free pass. You still got to be careful,
Speaker 1: you know, wear your mask, avoid the big crowds like
Speaker 1: you were just saying, and keep doing the social distancing.
Speaker 1: You got to take care of yourself whenever you're traveling
Speaker 1: outside of your bubble, so to speak. But these are
Speaker 1: some good tips on what to look for when trying
Speaker 1: to get tested before you're going to go out on
Speaker 1: one of your trips. Natalie Compton, reporter at the Washington
Speaker 1: Post Travel destination. By the way, thanks for joining us,
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this
Speaker 1: has been reopening America. Don't forget the effort today's big
Speaker 1: news stories. You can check me out on the Daily
Speaker 1: Dive podcast every Monday through Fridays. So follow us on
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