PHOENIX — Per the CDC's new travel recommendations, people are getting excited for a small jump into what feels normal.
From empty streets to a new day with new hope
This time last year the streets of downtown Phoenix were empty. The sound of the city was defined by silence. The COVID-19 pandemic started to spread across Arizona and forced Gov. Ducey to make a difficult decision.
“The time for further action is now. I signed an executive order directing Arizonans to stay home, stay healthy and stay connected,” Ducey said last March.
But now the sun rises on a new day, and vaccinations are ramping up across the start. Those once empty streets are now starting to look and sound like they did before the pandemic.
"People are getting vaccinated in droves and it feels nice to have everyone out and about again," said one person.
"It's optimistic to see people come back out of their shells and start to patronize businesses," said another.
New CDC travel guidelines allow fully vaccinated people to travel without requiring a test or quarantine domestically
The new guidelines are only for fully vaccinated travelers and allow people to resume "low risk" travel, but they still need to wear a mask.
Here is a list to keep in mind for domestic travel:
Fully vaccinated people do not need to get a COVID-19 test before or after travel and no longer need to quarantine.
Guidelines for international travel:
Fully vaccinated people do not need to get tested before they leave the U.S. unless testing is required by the international destination site.
However, when returning to the U.S. travelers should have a negative test result before boarding an international flight.
Fully vaccinated travelers coming to the U.S. should still be tested three to five days after they return to the U.S. on international flights.
"I'm excited being fully vaccinated we can travel more freely now. It's sort of that first step to getting back to a normal," an Arizonan said.