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How COVID-19 has changed holiday travel and how to stay safe if you are planning to get away this season

Plus, we want to know what precautions you are taking to help keep yourself and your family safe during travel this holiday season.

CLEVELAND — EDITORS NOTE: The video above is from Nov. 4. Gov. Mike DeWine is urging Ohioans avoid travel to states with a COVID-19 positivity rate over 15%. A current list of states under Ohio's travel advisory can be found here.

As we get closer to Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, the big question for most Americans is whether or not to travel to spend time with family and friends during the holidays. It's been just over seven months since the first confirmed coronavirus cases here in Ohio, and since then, travel has been down across the country.

Since the beginning of March, the Transportation Security Administration has reported an average of more than 617,000 people going through TSA checkpoints every day. That's down more than 74% over the same time period last year. 

RELATED: Doctors say take precautions for a safer Thanksgiving during the pandemic

Across the board, the U.S. Travel Association says that in October the U.S. lost $41.6 billion in travel spending compared to last year, with Ohio accounting for $1.2 billion of that. Though they also say that in recent weeks, air travel has been rebounding compared to the early days of the pandemic.

If you are traveling for the holidays, the consensus is that air travel is pretty safe. The Jama Network goes so far as to say that the risk of contracting COVID-19, "during air travel is lower than from an office building, classroom, supermarket, or commuter train."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID risk when it comes to air travel isn't the airflow in the plane, but rather the inability to socially distance, as well as the time spent in crowded airport lines. If you're concerned about being too close to people on a plane, some airlines are still holding off on selling middle seats for the time being, and most major airlines are still requiring face coverings.

No matter how you travel though, the CDC recommends wearing masks in public, socially distancing whenever possible.

RELATED: Study finds low risk of COVID-19 exposure through air on flights when masked

We want to know, how are you planning on staying safe during holiday travel? 

Comment on our Facebook post or respond on Twitter with what you plan on doing. 

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