Families prepare for spring break travel, doctors warn about COVID variant spread

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - While COVID-19 numbers have steadily dropped over the last few weeks, doctors say they are worried about spring break travel.

“It makes me a little nervous,” Norton Healthcare Primary Care Doctor Dr. Monalisa Tailor told WAVE 3 News Wednesday.

She’s urging people to stay home for spring break, citing that COVID-19 numbers in Jefferson County are close to what they were in October.

“With us knowing these variants are out there, they are a bit more transmittable, it’s just another reason for us to stay cautious at this moment,” she said.

Tailor said she understands people are itching to get out of their homes.

“I would still encourage folks to do day trips,” she suggested. “Do trips here in the state. Go to a state park, Indiana has some beautiful state parks as well. I would try to stay local to the area.”

If families do plan to travel, Tailor said it’s important to make sure they stay in a “bubble” of people.

“If we can have a hotel room or condo to ourselves, that might be better,” she said. “I would try to avoid eating out or eating outside if you can.”

Those are things mom Holly Payne plans to follow. She is heading out of town Thursday with her four kids, ranging in ages from an infant to 17 years old.

“We’re just ready for things to go back to normal,” Payne said.

Payne and her kids are driving 1,000 miles to Florida to see her grandmother, who is in her 80s.

“We’ve seen her one time pretty much in the past year since COVID, so it’s like I feel like we can’t get enough time in to see her,” she said.

Payne has her trip planned to a tee: She mapped out her family’s drive, including what gas stations they will stop at to fuel up and use restrooms and how long they will stop for.

“I’ve also packed a cooler for our travel so we won’t have to stop and buy food anywhere or anything like that,” Payne said. “I know exactly where I’m stopping and how much time in between and hopefully social distance as much as possible.”

She and her kids plan to head to the beach, too, but she said they will go to a local beach where tourists will not be.

Tailor said Payne’s plans were good and exactly what she suggests for those who are traveling.

“A big thing to avoid and we’ve all seen those images out of Miami from last weekend,” Tailor said. “But of the crowded streets, those crowded beaches, where all these folks are gathered together, that’s just, it’s a big risk factor right there for COVID-19.”

She also asks people who travel to get tested if they start to experience any COVID-19 symptoms.

For testing locations throughout the city, click here.

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