Traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic means increasing safety precautions and risks for contracting the deadly virus. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your trip. To ensure that you stay safe when you’re eating at this restaurant or going sightseeing, ensure that you practice safety at all times. You can never be too complacent with the virus still around, especially with a new threat of a new coronavirus variant.
The new variant is said to have 56 percent transmissibility. That means, it can quickly spread to other people, which also makes it harder to control. But don’t fret. We’ve listed three crucial tips for travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Check Requirements Before Traveling
It’s important to check requirements before traveling. This doesn’t only mean to check requirements in your area, state, or country, but it means you also have to check requirements in the destination of your choice.
Before procuring the required documents, you may also consider if the destination is worth going into or not. Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, always assess if you’ll have high chances of contracting the virus or not or if you yourself are a threat to the people in that area.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Does the place have high coronavirus cases?
- Does my place have high coronavirus cases?
- Am I prone to illnesses due to my health status?
- Have I been in contact with someone who has coronavirus?
Ask these questions and determine if traveling now is the right decision. Then if you think you’ll likely be a threat to other people or if you think the place you’re going to is safe for travel, do the necessary steps to be safe throughout your trip.
First, if your country offers vaccines, try to be vaccinated before traveling. Then check yourself by scheduling a swab test so you’ll have peace of mind that you’re not putting others in danger.
Go For Local Destinations
Though you really want to check one country in your bucket list, try to think if it’s worth it or not. Other countries may still have high coronavirus cases. In fact, other countries such as the United Kingdom already has the new coronavirus variant. You may want to avoid high-risk countries and places.
If you can, try to go visit local destinations for now. You might now know it, but your local area might have precious gems you’ve never discovered because you’re too hell-bent on seeing other countries’ tourist destinations.
Traveling to local destinations means you can just drive to there. Bringing a car also puts you at less risk to getting coronavirus as you don’t have to interact with anybody when moving from one place to another.
Practice Safety Guidelines
This is a no-brainer. However, people sometimes neglect to practice safety precautions, especially when they’re having fun. Always ensure that you wear your mask at all times. Also, wearing a mask all the time isn’t enough. You have to know how to handle your mask such as not touching the surface and disposing of it right after using it if you have surgical masks.
Moreover, always carry alcohol with you and avoid touching high-risk surfaces. Always rub alcohol after touching anything when in public. If you can, wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds using the proper handwashing technique. Once you get to your hotel, put your clothes up for laundry and shower.
