Do’s and Don’ts of Holiday Travel
By: Justin Wolf
Tags: Travel, Quarantine, Holidays, Covid 19

There have long been health risks associated with travel. An abstinence only approach to it would be staying home and seeing your family through a zoom call. However, a harm reduction approach would be to take a series of prevention approaches to prevent the spread of the virus and enjoy each other’s company.

This 2020 holiday season your safest option is to stay home. However, we all know that’s not something any of us want to do. We were all looking for ward to this virus running its course and going to the history books in July. Now, we have gone so long without seeing our families. It’s Christmas, and we want to be with our families!

If you’ve decided to go see family, and you’re worried about spreading the virus, then experts have said there are some ways to limit the spread of the virus. However, it is not inevitable to have a spike of cases over the holidays, but we can be smart about things.

To start, get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine while you wait for your results. If you do test positive, then you should begin your two week quarantine from the day you received your results. Do not begin your 2 week quarantine from the day you got tested.

Secondly, if you’re going to fly, then it would best to understand exactly how COVID-19 is spread.

How Coronavirus Spreads | CDC

COVID-19 is spread mainly through person-to-person contact. However, it is also spread through respiratory droplets produced from infected people who cough, sneeze, or even talk. These droplets can be inhaled by nearby people causing them to contract COVID-19 and spread it as well. In an airplane, air is constantly cycling, and the virus could easily spread.

When traveling on an airplane, keeping distance from others and only having contact with people in your immediate bubble should remain a priority. Bring back up masks incase you lose one, sanitary wipes to clean off shared spaces suck as armrests or pull down trays.

If you want to avoid airport travel, then there are safe ways to accomplish that as well. Traveling by car would be the safest form of travel right now. You would only be interacting with people already living with you, most likely, and you would not have to interact with other people depending on your stops. However, you should consider sanitizing your hands and things you frequently touch such as your phone. If you’re renting a car to travel, then you will want to sanitize the steering wheel and other areas as well to protect your family and people you are visiting.

When you get to your destination, you should consider taking some time to quarantine there just to be safe. You’ll likely be in close quarters with people you don’t see on a daily basis. Give at least some time for quarantine and keep proximity as much as possible during that time. This plan ahead of time will drastically decrease the spread of the virus over the holidays.

Remember, if you experience symptoms before or after your travels, then go get tested right away!

This is not just about our personal health. It’s about the health of those we love, those around us, and those more susceptible to the virus. When we wear our mask or forego going to a desired place to prevent the spread, then we are thinking about the greater community. A community with people who may suffer more from the virus than somebody else.