COVID-19 exposure might be more prevalent on airline flights than you might think, according to new data from Canadian public health authorities.
What’s going on?
USA Today reports that new data from Canada public health authorities show there’s almost a daily occurrence of a passenger getting infected with COVID-19 while flying.
In fact, the Public Health Agency of Canada has found exposure on more than 1,600 international flights and more than 1,400 flights within Canada. That’s more than 3,000 flights where exposure might have happened.
- More than 200 of those cases happened in the last week, according to USA Today.
- This has happened on flights from carriers American, United, Delta, Alaska and Allegiant, according to USA Today.
Canada often shares data about public COVID-19 exposures on flights, trains and cruise ships.
- Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t publish a list of affected flights within the United States.
Changes to flights
The United States will now require international travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding their flights, The New York Times reports.
- The CDC said testing can’t “eliminate all risk,” calling for people to wear masks, maintain social distancing and follow other guidelines to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
- “Travel — whether it’s by plane, train or automobile — remains ill-advised, experts say, especially as researchers continue to identify new and potentially more contagious variants of the virus,” according to The New York Times.