A few weeks ago, another variant of the coronavirus was released in the news. It is called the Omicron variant and is a very contagious one even if it has been shown to be less negatively impacting. The variant was first found in South Africa, so with the mass amount of travel for the holidays, the virus quickly spread to the United States. Cases started to rise at a very rapid rate and more hospitalizations were seen in the last few weeks. Studies have even shown that that Delta variant is less likely to spread than the new Omicron variant. In an attempt to prevent Omicron from coming to the United States, originally, experts thought that they would be able to ban incoming travelers, but Omicron had been so contagious already that banning travelers would not do much. Experts have realized that the focus should be put more on traveling than on vaccinations currently. So although the Covid-19 booster is much of the focus of many individuals for extra prevention, following travel guidelines can be even more protective at this time. Traveling is often the source of the spread as individuals are in confined areas with other passengers and can bring their disease to the area in which they arrive.

All countries as a whole had started to loosen restrictions for traveling. With the holidays and thousands of individuals trying to get to certain places, it is slightly difficult to enforce all of these restrictions at all times. Now as Omicron has caused mass increase in cases, these restrictions are deeply enforced. All passengers are required to wear a mask, just as before, but even more strictly now. Certain testing is required for each location being traveled to. Instead of just having a Covid-19 test before traveling, many areas are now requiring testing before returning home or even during the trip itself. Even while at destinations, visitors are either encouraged or required to wear masks unless in their hotel room. Overall, countries have been more cautious about who enters their territory and where they are from. Individuals are still able to celebrate their holiday seasons with their families or spend winter break away, but only with the proper travel precautions to keep them safe from the new found variant.