SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Millions of Americans will travel through the end of this week. Despite how you travel, if you plan to gather, you could expose yourself to illness as RSV and COVID continue to impact many people.
"We're seeing the RSV cases starting to slow down a little bit to counteract that, we're seeing an increase in pediatric COVID infections," said ABC10 Health Expert Dr. Payal Kohli. "Flu infections, especially in adults, have been really rampant at this time of year, so I feel like those three respiratory viruses are really out with the vengeance right now, and we really have to do our best, especially in the face of new COVID."
Kohli suggests wearing a mask in crowded places, getting vaccinated as soon as possible, and testing frequently.
"The CDC likes to have the slogan of test to treat. I'm going to change it this year for the holiday season. I'm going to say test to travel and test to gather because if you're planning to travel or gather in a group of a certain number of people, it's really important to test frequently and to communicate with each other the results of your test so that you can keep each other safe," said Kohli.
Post-holiday travel, Kohli said you'll want to test before you choose to gather again.
"Let's say you've gathered on Christmas Day, usually about three days or so afterward, and that's kind of right in time for your New Year's gatherings, then you'll probably test again right after that," said Kohli. "Keep in mind, the home test is not as accurate when you're not having symptoms, but it's still given that a lot of us may have milder symptoms with the Omicron variant."
Find more tips for healthy travel HERE.
Watch more on ABC10: How to include loved ones with dementia in holiday plans
