Before travelling to your favourite destination, you’ll need to consider how the spread of COVID-19 may affect your plans. Planning to travel during a pandemic requires a more detailed and cautious approach, but it’s possible to do so as long as you follow proper health protocols and minimize risks.
Things To Consider When Planning Your Trip
Travel requires planning and preparation, most especially during the pandemic. Before, you only have to worry about booking a trip, arranging a hotel, and packing your personal belongings. However, with the risk of COVID-19, you need to plan and prepare for more things to follow health protocols and safety measures.
Here are some questions to go about as you plan your itinerary.
- What’s the COVID-19 situation of your place of destination?
- What’s the COVID-19 situation in your neighbourhood?
- Will you and your traveling companions be within six feet of other passengers while you travel?
- Does the state and local government where you live or where you’re going require that you self-isolate at least 14 days upon arrival or return?
- Do you have enough time off to comply with quarantine measures?
How to Prevent COVID-19 Infection In The Car
To lessen the risks of contracting COVID-19, it’s best to use your own car when travelling. However, you must still take a few precautions to ensure that your ride is safe, clean, and risk-free.
Begin by thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing your car. Wipe all surfaces and parts that are more susceptible to being touched by other people. This includes the windows, seatbelts, steering wheel, handles, controls, and seats. Keep hand sanitisers and anti-bacterial wipes in the vehicle as well, so that you can clean up everything and passengers can disinfect their hands after every stop.
Avoid Bringing Many People With You
Social distancing and safe socializing are good precautionary measures to take, even if you’re travelling by car. While you may not be six feet away from each other, it’s still best to keep a good distance from your travel buddies in the car. So, as much as possible, avoid bringing too many people with you. Having masks in the car is also a good idea, especially if you’re travelling with someone who’s not from your close circle.
Avoid Car-Pooling
Carpooling through rideshare applications may enable you to save a lot of money, but it isn’t worth it right now because of the increased risk associated with being in proximity to a stranger. If using a private car is not an option, get a chauffeur Melbourne if you’re in the city. And whenever possible, travel in the back of the car rather than the passenger seat to maintain some distance between you and the driver.
Some rideshare car owners have installed a division between the front and rear seats of their vehicles. This significantly reduces the risk of transmission. You should conduct thorough research on every rideshare company so that you have a better understanding of the safety features that are available locally.
How To Protect Yourself From COVID-19 During Flights
Those low-cost flights are very appealing right now. If you decide to travel by plane, bear in mind that keeping safe would require much more than just wearing masks. You have to deal with security lines and check-in terminals before you even get to the plane. This entails coming into contact with high-touch surfaces while being in close proximity to a large number of people. While you may be concerned about staying safe on the flight, you need to be more concerned about protecting yourself before getting on the plane.
According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), however, viruses don’t easily spread on planes due to the way air circulates inside them. Many flights have also begun taking the required precautions to keep their planes sanitized and safe for passengers in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Highly efficient particulate absorbing (HEPA) filters are now standard on aeroplanes, and both clean the air that passes through them. Most airlines properly clean and fog their aircraft with electrostatic disinfectants that stick to safety belts or other high-touch surfaces. Some airlines have even changed their seating arrangements to provide more space between passengers. So, check for such adjustments in your flight of choice before booking.
Bottomline
When preparing to leave for another town or country, you’ll have to take into consideration several safety issues and plan around these considerations. After all, your health and the safety of the people you come in contact with are probably more important than any journey. So, when the risk seems to outweigh the measures you’re willing to take, then it might be better to stay at home and travel at a better time.
