Coronavirus: How To Travel Safely
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The new decade of 2020 held a lot of promise — planning holidays away, booking sporting, music and other events throughout the year and conquering new challenges. Unfortunately, the outbreak of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, has put this all on hold indefinitely.
Whilst businesses and individuals alike have been hit pretty hard by its impact, the best thing to do now is to stay safe, patient and calm. With some countries shutting down borders, hotels experiencing a high level of cancellations and a reduction in flights, there is still light — Italy has shown this sense of solidarity through singing from their balconies during self-quarantine, showing that now more than ever, the idea of togetherness and support for one another is so important.
Here at HIP Hotels, we want to make sure that everyone can still continue to look forward to travelling again and enjoying the upcoming activities and events we had planned. We want to keep your spirits high and above all, reassure you that everything will eventually return to normality. We’ve put together some crucial guidelines and precautions to take, which countries are still safe to travel to and, whilst the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is advising on all but essential travel to certain countries, how to be sure you stay safe if you need to do so.
Travelling safely
If you’re travelling overseas within the next few weeks, please be sure to keep an eye out on your government’s website for any updates that may affect your trip. Although the FCO are advising against all but essential travel to many destinations, especially to the high-risk countries such as China, Italy, South Korea and Iran, if you are still planning on travelling to another country please consider the following precautions and measures:
How can I stay safe?
While it’s fairly safe for you to travel to low-risk countries, proper hygiene precautions are absolutely necessary. Here are some of the cleaning tips to follow at all times to help prevent catching the virus and staying clean:
-Wash your hands with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds thoroughly after you’ve been anywhere outside and especially before eating and drinking
-Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
-Disinfect all objects and surfaces
-Try and avoid any contact with sick people or those with symptoms
-Avoid any unnecessary travel. If it is essential, try wearing some gloves and a mask to help reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus
-Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing
-If you are feeling unwell, please do not travel, be sure to self isolate for the recommended time and stay at home, avoiding contact with others.
Please note: Call your healthcare provider if you think you have some of the following symptoms:
-High fever
-Dry cough
-Shortness of breath
-Sore throat
-Headaches
Purchase travel insurance
As soon as you’ve booked your holiday, make sure you purchase the appropriate travel insurance for any overseas travel. It’s very important to make sure you’re fully covered for whatever may or may not happen, checking every detail that it covers for you. Call your travel insurance provider if you have any questions.
Be aware of screening measures and entry restrictions
As many countries are now introducing screening measures (checking travellers temperatures and asking any travel/health related questions), if you have recently been in a country affected by COVID-19, you may be asked to self-quarantine or be prevented from entering a third country. Therefore it is advised that before and after booking your trip, that you keep checking the government website and the travel advice pages for the specific country you are planning to visit or currently reside in.
Here at HIP Hotels we want to make sure everyone is safe and well. Whilst hotels from our collection have been affected by the outbreak, we will continue to support them through this uncertain time and look forward to the resurgence of our travel plans. To our dedicated subscribers worldwide, we will be updating this information accordingly throughout the next few weeks in order to help and support everyone affected as much as we can. Please make sure that you keep up to date with your government website, flight details, updated travel restrictions and travel advice as much as possible.
Useful Links:
-About Foreign & Commonwealth Office
