Is It Safe to Travel Amid This Pandemic?
The spread of the corona virus placed everything on hold. In various parts of the world, people were ordered to go on a lockdown or social distancing. The reason is that when people stay at home, there’s a smaller chance of contracting the virus. When the virus doesn’t have a human host, it won’t spread. If you already have travel plans, is it still safe to do it at this time?
Generally, no.
If you intend to travel at this time, it’s best if you cancel it first. It’s true especially if it’s a non-essential trip. It includes trips for tourism purposes. If it’s a business trip, you might want to find a different method to achieve the same goal without leaving home. You can setup a video conference or exchange emails with the person you’re planning to meet with.
Apart from self-quarantine rules, another reason why you have to suspend your plans is how difficult it is to move around. Several airlines decided to ground their planes. Domestic and international routes around the world saw a massive decline. Flights are only operational under specific circumstances. Even then, you need to go through a lot before boarding.
The worst part is when you came from a country which is considered high-risk or where there’s continued transmission of virus, you need to self-quarantine upon arrival for 14 days. Therefore, if your plan is to go around and see the tourist destinations, it’s not going to happen. Besides, most of the places you intend to visit are probably closed. Even major theme parks like Disneyland have decided to temporary close their doors to guests.
It’s not the end
Although this pandemic is already making life difficult for all of us, it’s not the end. Let’s just follow the rules until we can weather it. It’s like going through a storm. Once the storm passes, everything will be back to normal. Sure, we have to wait for some time to recover, but we will get there.
Once this horrible pandemic is over, flights will be back to normal again. People can move freely. Your top destinations to visit will be available again. The economy might stall for a while and it could take years for it to recover. Despite that, life will go on, and we can live normally again.
For now, you just have to follow the rules and stay at home. You might not fear the virus, but everyone around you might not survive it. If you have elderly loved ones or are immune-compromised, you have to stay home for them. You would rather spend time with them at home now so you can have more time to travel in the future. You will regret it if you decided to keep going out now, and you infected them.
We can take part in ensuring that this pandemic will soon be over. It’s a huge sacrifice, but it’s something almost everyone in the world is doing right now.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://www.wlns.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/03/c8c36a6781664a519247cd98c1e4918e.jpg?w=2560&h=1440&crop=1
2nd image from https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/who-calls-covid-19-a-global-pandemic
