Doctor suggests monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms if you traveled over Thanksgiving

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    MICHIGAN, USA (WNEM) — So, you went away for Thanksgiving?

Whether by air or by land, you were one of the millions of people who traveled over the holiday.

Now, it’s time to monitor yourself.

“Should any symptoms occur, they need to be tested right away,” said Dr. Nicholas Haddad from CMU Health. “Now to be sure, it’s important to check oneself three to five days return after travel.”

There is always a risk, Haddad says. The key is to mitigate that risk.

If you have yet to travel home, be sure to stay masked in airports and planes, and avoid drives with people outside your household.

And remember…

“Many of the folks that have it are completely asymptomatic,” Haddad said. “Between 20 and 40 percent of people have no symptoms so they would not even know.”

The TSA screened more than 4.5 million people so far this week.

And millions more are expected to drive.

Like Cody Nelson and his girlfriend.

“We’re from Battle Creek and we stayed in Carp Lake, so Mackinaw City area,” Nelson said. “And just went on a little vacation, got a cabin, did some hiking, went up to Pictured Rocks.”

AAA does expect a 10 percent drop in travel this Thanksgiving.

And 95 percent of Americans who leave home are expected to travel by car.

Nelson has family in the Traverse City area, but…

“We debated seeing our family but decided not to just to keep them safe was our intention behind that,” he said.

If you hosted Thanksgiving for travelers, Haddad suggests keeping those high-touch areas as clean as you can and monitor yourself too.

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