Experts Say You May Want to Pull Out Your COVID Masks—Here’s What to Know

Flu season is right around the corner, but health experts are still concerned about a potential COVID outbreak, which is becoming a very real possibility as new data is released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Throughout the summer, COVID cases have been steadily on the rise, and officials have issued a stark reminder for Americans to get the updated 2024-2025 vaccine stat. And now, as travelers jet off for their final summer holiday, doctors say you may want to slip a COVID mask into your bag.

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According to a new CDC data report, the JN.1 variant remained the dominant variant between July 21 and Aug. 3, 2024. This includes strains KP.1.1, KP.2, and KP.3, which experts have come to call “FLiRT” for short. The rate of positive COVID tests in the U.S. is also climbing, but the CDC is trying to get ahead of a potential nationwide epidemic by testing wastewater (AKA sewage) for traces of the infectious disease in every state. This helps experts determine whether COVID is on the rise or decline in communities.

As of Aug. 6, COVID-19 infections are “growing” in California, Washington, Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, per a CDC report. Meanwhile, cases are declining in Nevada, Hawaii, and Connecticut.

So, what does this mean for your summer travel plans? While there’s no current travel mandate, health experts suggest packing a few extra COVID masks for protection.

“Maintain situational awareness,” Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, the chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System in Missouri, told The New York Times.

In other words, if you’re boarding a full plane or touring a crowded indoor museum with poor air circulation, it might be smart to whip out a COVID mask. While cloth masks are better than wearing no mask at all, N95, KN95, and KF94 are the gold standard because they’re “designed to filter at least 95 percent of airborne particles,” per the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

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Additionally, if your seatmate is coughing or seems to be feeling under the weather, it may benefit you to slip on a COVID mask out of caution. “It does not eliminate the risk, but it substantially reduces the risk of exposure,” said Al-Aly.

And the same goes if you’re feeling sick, too. “If you have symptoms and you have any question about it, I would wear a mask, just to protect other people,” Marc Sala, MD, a co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Covid-19 Center in Chicago, told the NYT.

Typical COVID symptoms include body chills, headaches, nausea, labored breathing, fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea. With the FLiRT variants, health experts warn that an irritated, scratchy throat is the most common tell-tale sign.

"Unfortunately one of the most common COVID symptoms currently seems to be a sore throat with or without a mild fever. I say unfortunately because—of course—a sore throat can be attributed to many different causes," infectious disease specialist Andreas M. Kogelnik, MD, PhD, said in an interview with Parade earlier this summer.

Right now, travelers aren’t required to wear COVID masks on planes, trains, or cruises. However, depending on where you’re traveling, health screenings may be required. Nevertheless, COVID masks don’t take up a lot of packing space, and you’ll be thankful should you need it.