New CDC isolation/quarantine rules with a positive test and coming home

The CDC guidelines for international travel still reflect a 10-day isolation period to show one has recently recovered from Covid. I do not know if they plan to change the 10-day to 5-day for travel purposes.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

You say she isn’t symptom free therefore she can’t travel.

Isn't the problem that Italy and Italian doctors don't follow CDC recommendations on isolation?

I updated my post she IS symptom free now. She only had mild symptoms for 3-4 days. She meets CDC requirements. But will there be other hurdles with Italian or German (layover) regulations?

The 5 day isolation is for in the USA. It has nothing to do with international travel.

As the others have pointed out, you aren't in the US. You are in Italy. Therefore you are required to follow Italian quarantine rules.

Is your daughter’s pediatrician practicing in Italy in order to write her document of recovery? It’s true that the CDC doesn’t specify that the doctor has to examine the patient in person, nor that the doctor has to be practicing in the country where the isolation is taking place.

However, you will need to carefully read both the CDC guidelines and the Italian guidelines. When I had a breakthrough case in France, I had to follow both French and US guidelines.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

Our pediatrician is in WA state. She is writing a letter, but it will reference CDC guidelines. Lufthansa only says that she needs proof of a positive test in the last 90 days and a "letter issued by a health authority stating that the passenger has been cleared for travel." Seems like a letter from our US pediatrician meets that criteria.....

JJ I apologize as I do not have any qualified experience. However i am very interested in what your experience turns out. We are scheduled to leave for Palermo on March 4 (RS Sicily Tour) along with our Son and DIL. They are time sensitive on the return so will follow your experience returning very closely. Also i will PM you with my personal email in case you would feel more comfortable using it.
Ps I was just on the phone with RS advisor they do not currently have active tours out right now and he has not hear from friends or associates you currently traveling who has tested positive.

The airlines are the ones enforcing the rules, so I would recommend calling Lufthansa to ask this question. If they do say it’s ok, then I would also ask them exactly for the law, regulation, exemption, or whatever they are referencing so that you can screen shot that and have it at the airport when you check in.

I too am curious as to what you learn. Sorry for this experience. I'm sure it's a nightmare. Hoping some good can come out of it for the rest of us. Good luck to you. I'll be looking forward to hearing more about your experience. Best of luck

I’m going to be a party pooper and tell you that you are taking an unnecessary risk for a high-stakes flight. You need a letter from an Italian doctor, at least as a back up. This is a high-stakes flight and you don’t want to be turned away. You are dealing with Italian speakers to check in and board the plane, so the letter should be in their language, by a doctor from their country. For your second flight, at least you have a letter from the doctor where your itinerary iriginated. Your CDC form provided by the airline has four boxes to choose from, and for your daughter, you choose box 3. This sets off questions and a close look at your documents, which need to be clear to them, the literal gatekeepers who allow you to board or deny boarding. You should find a doctor where you are and get it done.
Here is my experience flying to the US after recovery but still positive this month: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/covid19/positive-test-flying-to-the-states-what-do-you-do-personal-experience

I wouldn’t depend on a telephone call to an airline when you have three countries to deal with. It’s the gate agents who are on the ground, not a voice over a phone. Just cover all your bases.

Our pediatrician is in WA state. She is writing a letter, but it will
reference CDC guidelines.

I will follow this with great interest, so I hope you will continue to post your progress. As a retired health care professional, I'd like to know how it is ethical for any physician to write a letter clearing a patient that they haven't even examined.

And I'm not sure that the Italian authorities care one little bit what the CDC guidelines are.

CJean, the letter only states when she first tested positive, and that she is now fever free and improving (in fact, she is better than "improving" as she has no more symptoms that she can detect what so ever). I actually don't think it's worded strongly enough to take a risk with just that. I will see if I can find an Italian doctor tomorrow, although I have no idea if a same day visit is realistic. We may also need to try to get a negative molecular test, but the whole reason the US has a "recovery letter" is because testing is skewed for a period after getting covid (i.e. you keep testing positive even after recovery).

Ok, I am in NO WAY an expert on Italian covid law, and don't want to be alarmist.

But it seems like you are focusing only on the CDC requirements, and not on those that are in force in Italy.

Did the testing centre where your daughter tested positive not put you in contact with the local health authority? They seem to be the responsible party who clears you to leave isolation, as far as I understand the process in Italy (which is, to be fair, not very well).

OP, the point is that unless the temperature was taken by the doctor, or his nurse, and the patient examined, they cannot truthfully state this on an official document since they don't have first hand knowledge. I hope you can find a local walk in clinic or office where you can quickly see a doctor. The local health authority should be able to help you.

You need to take her original test results to the Italian doctor so the doctor can calculate the timeline if this was one of those US proctored tests that was never reported to the Italian authorities. Otherwise, you should have received written instructions from the Italian healthcare system. I say if, because I don't know where she had her positive test and if it was reported.

My advice to get her to an Italian doctor is due to my experience. The French gate agent almost didn't let me board and not only am I fluent in French but my doctor's letter was in French.

Don't risk a COVID test if your first result wasn't recorded in the Italian healthcare system. A new positive would be a first positive for the Italian system and reward you with a new ten days of isolation.

OP, the point is that unless the temperature was taken by the doctor,
or his nurse, and the patient examined, they cannot truthfully state
this on an official document since they don't have first hand
knowledge.

As a retired nurse I have a real problem with this too. I'd never trust a doctor who did this but YMMV

it is very unclear just exactly what is going on. in your previous posts you mentioned having to self test for departure from VENICE on new years eve?
did you self test this time earlier than your planned departure because she was sick? was it reported to authorities?

have you reached out to US embassy for assistance?
you should certainly be able to find an english speaking italian doctor- google search or ask your hotel/host to help with that
i believe there is a group called "Doctors in Italy" - italian doctors that work with US travelers

anyway- good luck
and i will just repeat- you are in Rome so what the CDC says hardly applies
when in Rome...

JJ
Please report back as to what happened. Following this post with great interest!

Just reporting back, that we did make it home on January 2nd. We finished our 10 day quarantine, and my daughter and I were both able to test negative to fly home.

I would definitely make sure that you understand the rules for quarantine and have a contingency plan should someone test positive. There were many tense moments for us. We were lucky to have some local contacts who really went above and beyond to help us. I look forward to the day that international travel is easier again!

JJ, I am in the same boat. My daughter tested positive for the test we need to take to fly back. We were shocked as she had no symptoms and ivaccinated with booster. My other half family left and I am staying back with my daughter during the quarantine period. I scheduled a PCR test and planning to have another antigen test tomorrow. I am hoping once she gets a negative
Test, we can fly back before 10 day quarantine. Any advice you can provide that I should look into. We took travel insurance as well. I am not sure how that all will work either….

LC are you in Italy? Where?

Italy, rome

JJ, were you not able to get an appointment for medical clearance? Did your daughter test multiple times until she was negative? Antigen or PCR test? Sorry, I have so many questions........

We quarantined for the full 10 days. Once I got over my pipe dream that I could travel sooner, we just waited it out. By day 8 (and several days without symptoms) we started to get negative home tests for my daughter. I had originally thought it would be hard to get a negative test after testing positive (I had read that it can take up to 3 months to clear covid tests even if you are no longer contagious) but I think most people do test negative after 5-10 days absent complications. We did not have to go to a covid hotel, but we had some help finding a place to safely quarantine from locals and were very careful to make sure my daughter was isolated. I still don't really know what will trigger the authorities to send someone to a covid hotel. I was just glad it didn't happen for us. Best of luck to all.

How do you find out where to quarantine?

This is interesting; one couple's recent experience testing positive in Italy:

https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/a-dream-trip-to-italy-is-derailed-by-covid-19-what-happens-when-you-test-positive-abroad/

They had to quarantine in a designated hotel (that they were transported to) but I wonder if that can be different per region?

Length of time to test negative: it appears shorter now with cases happening in vaccinated people and being Omicron.

I thought about the US couple. This is pure speculation: did they ask the hotel if they could stay and whine that they had nowhere to go? If you say you have no place to isolate, then the government helps you. This was certainly not the couples plan.
A person of modest means, sharing an apartment with spouse, kids, inlaw, would find the free room and meals a welcome solution for isolation.

Good question, Bets.