What happens when travelers test positive for Covid on vacation?

Well over a year into the pandemic, border restrictions are still constantly changing as new variants emerge, while PCR and antigen tests have become part and parcel of traveling.

Many countries require travelers to produce negative Covid test results on entry, regardless of vaccination status, and in some cases take follow-up tests, while some destinations, including the US, require people to produce a negative test result before their return trip.

But what happens if you test positive after you’ve arrived in a new destination?

This is a predicament that a number of travelers have found themselves in over the past year or so.

Back in August, South Carolina couple April DeMuth and Warren Watson (pictured top) were getting ready to return to the US after a two-week trip to Greece when a positive Covid test result stopped them in their tracks.

“We took the test in the morning,” explains DeMuth. “So we’re in the airport, the agent is pulling us over so that we can check our luggage in and we’re pulling up our test results [on our phones]. That’s when he [Watson] said it.”

Just hours before they were scheduled to board their flight back to the US, they discovered that Watson had tested positive for Covid-19.

Positive on arrival

Shortly after receiving the results, DeMuth and Watson got a call from the Greek authorities and arrangements were promptly made for them to be transferred to a quarantine hotel provided by the Greek government.

Although most travel insurance policies cover quarantine-related costs, the pair had not taken out insurance for their vacation.

“We were very fortunate that Greece has quarantine hotels that the government pays for,” says Watson, who had been experiencing some mild Covid symptoms in the days before he received a positive Covid result.

“They delivered three meals a day to us. We were treated very well and it didn’t cost us anything. I know in other countries, it’s quite expensive.”

Thankfully Watson’s symptoms continued to be mild while in quarantine (DeMuth never tested positive) and he received a negative result after taking his next PCR test. The couple were able return home seven days later without incurring any extra costs.

“I would never travel without [insurance] now,” says DeMuth. “We were just fortunate that we were in a country that was very gracious with what they do, but we’d never want to rely on that.”

Things could certainly have been very different if they’d chosen to holiday in another destination. For instance, visitors to Italy are required to pay their own quarantine fees up front if they test positive after they arrive.