Where Can We Go in a Covid-19 World?

Update February 18, 2021

There have been a lot of changes, particularly regarding travel between states.  41 states or territories now allow visitors from other states without restriction, although four of those states have some restrictions in certain cities or counties.  Seven states or territories (and Chicago, for visitors from certain high risk states, and one county in Colorado) require either a negative Covid-19 test or mandatory quarantine.  Five states (plus two counties in California) have a mandatory quarantine requirement.  If you’re traveling anywhere in the US, see our detailed listing below and visit that state’s website for more detail.

From an international standpoint, here are the notable changes:

• Additional countries allowing US citizens to enter without quarantine or a negative Covid-19 test:
  • Costa Rica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Kosovo
  • Mexico
  • North Macedonia
  • Tanzania
• Additional countries allowing US citizens to enter requiring quarantine or a negative Covid-19 test:
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Georgia
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Mali
  • Seychelles
  • Somalia
  • Tunisia

The Seychelles now permit visitors from the US if they can furnish proof of having receiving both vaccine shots.  Georgia and Jordan also require proof of vaccine in addition to a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours.

Please take great care when deciding to visit one of these countries.  Travel may be permitted by the host country, but many of them are struggling to control the spread of Covid-19.  Remember, everyone entering the US from any foreign country must provide a negative test within 72 hours of departure.  We are finding that the most reliable, up to date source for information on foreign countries is the in-country US Embassy notice available online.

Update February 5, 2021

France announced this week that they are banning all travel to its territories in the Caribbean and French Polynesia.  This means that US travelers can no longer visit Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Barts, St. Martin (French side) and Tahiti.

Update January 22, 2021

The big news this week is President Biden’s executive order concerning travel. The order he signed will impact travel in several ways, but these four points rise to the top:

• Federal mask mandate: Masks will now be mandatory on all modes of interstate travel. . .plane, train, boat and bus. This is not a big change, since each of those carriers have had a mask requirement in place, but the federal mandate will also cover visitors to national parks, monuments and buildings. Presumably, that would include museums like the Smithsonian, the National Art Gallery and any other federally owned venues.
• International travelers to the US will be required to have a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure in order to get a boarding pass. This requirement includes US residents returning home. This mandate goes into effect on Tuesday, January 26. If you will be affected by this new requirement, it will be important to determine the availability of PCR testing near your point of departure.
• Additionally, international travelers to the US will be required to quarantine for seven days upon arrival. How this will work is unclear; various government agencies have until February 4 to finalize how this requirement will be carried out. This particular provision appears to be pretty fluid for now, including the length of the quarantine period.
  The order establishes a framework for some sort of “vaccine passport” that would allow travelers to show proof that they have received one of the vaccines. This is very early in the ballgame and will probably not be finalized for at least a month if not longer.

If you’re traveling internationally in the next few weeks, it will be essential to stay on top of these evolving requirements.

Sri Lanka is now open to foreign travelers: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sri-lanka-covid-tourism-reopening-intl-hnk/index.html

Update January 15, 2021

The CDC has announced that the US will require all international travelers to furnish a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure. This requirement goes into effect on January 26, 2021 and applies to US citizens returning home as well as foreign travelers visiting the US. The negative test, or written documentation that the traveler has recovered from Covid-19, will be required in order to obtain a boarding pass.

This change in policy makes sense to us, but it’s sure to cause problems in the near term, as testing availability varies greatly from country to country. Before visiting a foreign country, you should determine whether the PCR test is readily available near your point of departure.

Blog post 101 January 8, 2021

Where Can We Go in a Covid-19 World?

We’re all anxious to be able to safely travel again. But, for the foreseeable future, the spread of COVID-19 will limit our ability to do so. Many states and countries have instituted restrictions on incoming and outbound travel, and those restrictions are subject to change without notice.

This blog post, written from the point of view of an American citizen with a US passport, is our attempt to summarize the current landscape. We will update this on at least a monthly basis as long as necessary. Because of rapid changes that have been taking place, use this as a guide only. You should confirm the current status of travel into and out of any state or country on that entity’s official website.

Travel within the United States

Interstate travel here in the US falls roughly into three categories:  states with no quarantine or testing requirements for out of state travelers, states with a testing requirement or mandatory quarantine, and states requiring out of state travelers to quarantine upon entry.  Note that many states either discourage out of state travelers or ask/encourage you to quarantine, but do not have mandatory requirements.  Our best resource for this listing is found at CNN Travel https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-state-travel-restrictions-covid-19/index.html  Here are the most up to date listings as of February 15, 2021:

No mandatory quarantine or testing:

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California, although a ten day quarantine is encouraged.  Ten day quarantine is mandatory in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties.

Colorado, although Pitkin County (Aspen/Snowmass) requires a negative test within 72 hours of arrival or a mandatory 14 day quarantine.

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois, except Chicago, which requires either a negative test within 72 hours or 10 day quarantine if coming from certain states.

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas, with some exceptions.

Kentucky

Louisiana

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Negative test within 72 hours (except as noted) or mandatory quarantine:

Arkansas

Colorado

Delaware

Idaho

Illinois, only in Chicago, where testing is required from certain states.

Indiana

Iowa

Louisiana

Maine- Negative test or 10 day quarantine

Maryland- Negative test or 10 day quarantine

Massachusetts- Negative test or 10 day quarantine

Michigan

Minnesota

MIssissippi

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania, Negative test or 10 day quarantine

Puerto Rico- Negative test or 14 day quarantine

Rhode Island- Negative test or 10 day quarantine

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

US Virgin Islands- Negative test within 5 days of arrival

 

Mandatory quarantine:

Alaska- Negative test or 14 day quarantine

California- 10 days, only in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties.

Connecticut- 14 days

District of Columbia- 14 days

Hawaii- Testing/3 days or 14 day quarantine, with some exceptions

Kansas- 14 days

Kentucky- 14 days

New Hampshire- Negative test after 7 days or 10 day quarantine

New Jersey- 14 days

New Mexico- 14 days

New York- 10 day quarantine with opportunities to test out

North Dakota- 14 days

Ohio- 14 days (not mandatory)

Oregon- 14 days

Pennsylvania- 14 days

Rhode Island- 14 days

Vermont- 14 day quarantine; can end early if negative test after 7 days

Washington- 14 days

For more detail, check out the Kayak site https://www.kayak.com/travel-restrictions/united-states or the CNN Travel site https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-state-travel-restrictions-covid-19/index.html. Or visit that particular state’s guidance at their official website.

Travel outside the United States

This is really complicated! What we’ll try to do here is list only the countries that permit travelers from the US to enter their country. With the exception of the first very short list of countries below that do not require any testing or quarantine, there will be requirements for testing, quarantine and more. Be sure to visit that country’s website for official information.  Effective January 26, all international travelers to the US are required to have a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure in order to get a boarding pass. This requirement includes US residents returning home. Also, keep in mind that when you return home to the US, you will be subject to the rules of your home state.

Travel is permitted from the US to these countries with no testing or quarantine requirement
Albania

Costa Rica-NEW

Dominican Republic-NEW

Kosovo=NEW

Mexico-NEW

North Macedonia-NEW

Tanzania=NEW

Travel is permitted from the US with a negative COVID-19 test and/or quarantine requirement or proof of vaccination (denoted by *):

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Armenia

Aruba

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belize

Benin

Bermuda

Bolivia

Bonaire

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

British Virgin Islands

Burkina Faso-NEW

Cambodia

Cameroon-NEW

Cayman Islands- with significant restrictions

Central African Republic-NEW

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Curacao

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Dominica

Dubai

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Ethiopia

Falkland Islands

Gabon

Georgia*-NEW

Ghana

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau-NEW

Guyana

Haiti-NEW

Honduras

Ireland

Ivory Coast

Jamaica

Jordan*

Kenya

Lebanon

Liberia

Madagascar

Maldives

Mali-NEW

Malta

Mauritania

Mauritius

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Nepal

New Caledonia

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Pakistan

Panama

Peru

Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

Saba

St. Kitts and Nevis- with significant restrictions

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Sint Maarten (Dutch side only)

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles*-NEW

Sierra Leone

Somalia-NEW

South Africa

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Tajikistan

Togo

Tunisia-NEW

Turkey

Turks and Caicos

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

Uzbekistan

Zambia

Zimbabwe

In addition to the Kayak and CNN websites linked above, we also referred to a current listing on the Travel & Leisure website https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/australia-uk-negative-covid-test-requirement-international-travelers.
To reiterate, the countries listed above ALLOW travelers with US passports to enter. If you do not see the country you are looking for in these lists, they are CLOSED to travelers with US passports.