All over social media I’m seeing photos of people on spring break trips to Mexico, Florida, California, you name it. It’s honestly a bit shocking to see such a widespread indifference towards the threat of COVID-19. Visiting travel destinations while people continue to die of a communicable disease in mass numbers isn’t okay, and traveling for leisure during a pandemic isn’t just selfish – it’s dangerous. 

One of the main reasons the United States has had almost thirty million COVID-19 cases is because of American’s glaring disregard for what’s being recommended by health officials. The facts are that this pandemic is not over yet, and officials are still recommending against travel.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Travel increases your chance of spreading and getting COVID-19 due to potential exposures on public transit, at airports, or in hotels”. 

Even if the person travelling isn’t at risk for health complications with COVID-19 themselves, they need to take into consideration all the other people they are putting at risk, like airport staff and hotel workers. This also includes everyone they will be in contact with after returning from their trip, like teachers and classmates.  

It’s not fair to put your community, as well as the community you’re travelling to, at risk of getting COVID-19 just so you can enjoy some vacation time. 

Many seem to think that just because we’re back at school, life can go back to normal. While I wish that was the case, it needs to be recognized that COVID-19 is still killing on average over 1,000 Americans a day.  

Travelling right now is almost silly because the end of the pandemic is in sight. We are so close to having COVID-19 under control because the vaccine is finally on its way to Americans. Traveling at this time is only extends the length of the pandemic and makes its effects worse. 

If everyone takes COVID-19 precautions seriously for a little while longer, we can minimize the already disastrous effects of this pandemic and prevent future deaths. 

It’s understandable that people want to get out now that the pandemic has been affecting daily life for over a year now, but travel is an easy sacrifice if it means stopping the spread of COVID-19.  

Those traveling right now need to step back and ask themselves if their trips are really necessary, and if they aren’t: stay home.