We all are aware of how rapidly the deadly coronavirus is spreading all around, so we need to be well prepared with all the COVID 19 essentials if we have any inescapable travel plans ahead.
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is getting worse day by day, but the good thing is that the recovery rate is also improving compared to the past times. Though the virus has been encountered in over 13 lakh cases around the globe, the graph of recovery rate is also improving. The recovery rate is around 60 percent of the total affected, we can see many affected people are recovering with mild medication. For very few cases people with an underlying medical condition or much older age may appear to be more defenseless to become critically ill with this virus.
COVID 19 More Transmittable Disease
We have been living with other deadly diseases as well like Dengue, H1N1 Flu, AIDS which have also taken many lives, but, what makes COVID 19 so severe is the rate with which it gets transmitted and also its incubation period. Also, to add on as its a very new kind of virus and scientists and researchers do not have a proper base or background on this their study and research works are still ongoing as the virus is changing its trait from time to time.
Till we do not have a proper vaccine and specified set of treatments, it’s only we who can prevent ourselves and battle against coronavirus.
Travelling During COVID 19
The most basic things to do are staying at home, maintaining proper social distance, and healthy hygiene habits. But, as it has already been long we were in lockdown and things are still the same, and for some places even worse, we now have to come out of our houses and carry on with our daily work life in a new normal way.
During this time, there are some people who need to travel long distances due to work or some major obligation by flights and trains. For this type of unavoidable travel plans, extra care and precaution are needed. Along with that, some COVID 19 essentials for travel are must to carry.
COVID 19 Essentials
If you have any upcoming inescapable trip do consider these COVID 19 Essentials for travel:
Hand Sanitizer: Hand sanitizer or alcohol rub is a must-have amongst the COVID 19 essentials if we are traveling. When we are traveling we do have to touch many common surfaces and washing our hands every time might not feasible as we would not have access to water and soap all the time. It’s a good practice to keep a bottle of sanitizer handy and try to use it every half an hour. Also, we do need to avoid touching our face, eyes, and nose even if we do so unknowingly the frequent use of the sanitizer will keep our hands clean and prevent the entry of virus from our hands to our system.
There are many hand sanitizers in the market now, do prefer high alcohol content sanitizer with a minimum alcohol percentage of 70%.
Face mask: Another COVID 19 essentials, not just for traveling but whenever we come out of the house we need to put on the face mask. Covering our face can protect ourselves and also others from the virus to spread. There is an ongoing controversy on wearing a facemask. During the early phases of Covid-19, WHO recommended face mask only needed for health workers and front liners, then with the changing virus trait, they advised wearing a face mask for all. The next confusion is on the type of face mask people should wear.
There are 3 types of face mask homemade cloth facemask, surgical face mask, and N95 face mask.
The cloth face mask gives intermediate protection and can be used in less crowded places where people can maintain proper social distancing.
A surgical face mask is a loosely fitted disposal face mask and helps in preventing the transmission of infectious secretions from people to people.
The N95 mask is a tightly fitted face mask that filters out even the tiny particles along with large-particle droplets, sprays, and splashes.
As while traveling, we come along large groups of people and exposed to public places it is preferred to use surgical or N95 masks.
Face Shield: Face shield is another protective wear that covers your eyes, nose, and mouth, the primary entry points of the virus. If you are not infected and you do not have symptoms like sneezing and coughing, you may use this face shield as it helps in reducing the transmission of particles while talking. People who wear eyeglasses and find it difficult to wear it with a face mask, the face shield will be a way easier option to protect oneself from virus transmission. For travel purposes, it is recommended to wear the face shield along with the face mask to provide extra protection on your face.
Hand Gloves: Gloves are not much necessary for regular people though, as cleaning our hands frequently is way more preferred hygiene habits. But during travel, it might not be possible to wash our hands quite frequently, and also one needs to touch public surfaces now and then. So disposable hand gloves can be used while you are traveling, just be mindful enough to not touch your face with your hand gloves on as this can be the house of germs. Try to dispose of the hand gloves quickly when you are done, if it is a long hour journey try to change the gloves as much as possible.
Toilet Seat Sanitizers: While traveling we often have to use public restrooms and we need to be careful even there. It’s not just due to coronavirus, it is always a good practice to use a toilet seat cleaner/sanitizer whenever you are using public restrooms. It is a solution that can be used to disinfect the toilet seat before using it. The alcohol-based solution cleans the surface and leaves the seat germ free and fresh.
Shoe Sanitization: We keep on focusing on cleaning our hands and protecting our face from the virus and always tend to forget the most exposed part which is another major carrier of the virus that is our shoes. We step onto several public places while traveling which is visited by different people and our shoes are highly prone to carry germs back to our home. The best way is to wash our shoes if they are washable else you may use shoe sanitizer sprays or shoe sanitizer mats if available near your place.
Detergent Wash Disinfectant: After completing your trip, do wash your germ exposed wearables with proper detergent disinfectant. As it is found, the virus does stay in fabrics for a longer time. Do choose disinfectant detergent cleaner than normal detergent wash.
Overall, until and unless we have the vaccine ready its only us who can protect ourselves. While traveling we need to be very careful about our hygiene habits and also be cautious with people around us.
Apart from all these safety essentials, we need to stay calm and carry on with our travel plan in a new normal way. Another essential tip would be to never travel with an empty stomach, this makes your immunity weak thus making it easier for the virus to attack. Stay safe, stay calm, and stay well. We will surely get through this.
You may also read our article on the effect of COVID 19 on the tourism world.
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