How vulnerable am I to getting Covid on a plane or train?
Crowded areas are ideal for the spread of infection, and the dominant Omicron strains BA.4 and BA.5 are reported to effectively avoid antibody immunity and spread about one-third faster than previous variants. So, you may feel frustrated that you have to squeeze in your seat on the plane next to a stranger who keeps clearing his throat. But airplanes have an unfair reputation as contamination tanks, experts say, and the real risk is lower than in many indoor environments. For trains and other means of transport it depends on how busy they are and whether they have modern ventilation systems. “Be sure to wear a mask in crowded areas, on public transportation and at crowded airports,” said Professor Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong. “On the plane itself, the ventilation is excellent, so the risk is actually lower in your seat.”
Masks: to wear or not to wear?
Masks may seem like a thing of the past to some in the UK, but this is not the case in all countries, so check the rules before you start. Italy, for example, has retained the requirement to wear an FFP2 mask on public transport, with the exception of airplanes. Some airlines also kept an order. You may also be motivated by a desire to be a responsible citizen or by self-preservation. In this case, an FFP2 mask, which filters out potential contaminants in the air, is better than a disposable cloth or paper mask. “If you are worried, I would highly recommend a mask,” said Dr. Stephen Griffin, an associate professor at the University of Leeds. “It simply came to our notice then. It is a joke. Why spoil the feeling of your vacation? “
Festivals and clubbing
Festivals return this summer, from Primavera in Spain to Tomorrowland, the largest dance music festival in the world, in Boom, Belgium. Do these huge concentrations lead to outbreaks? Anecdotes, many people reported being positive for Covid after Glastonbury, but then 200,000 people participated and about one in 30 people in England had Covid last week. It is difficult to determine whether events like this make a big difference in the total numbers at this stage. If you are trying to assess your own risk, the common sense applies: crowded interiors make transmission more likely. This scenario may be relevant at a festival or nightclub, but just as high-end as an afternoon at a packed museum or busy art gallery or exploring the vaults of a medieval church. “The one time I was abroad recently was a microbiology conference in Northern Ireland, where I stuck with Covid,” Griffin said. “I would make all the arrangements so that the conference is safe for Covid, but I came back with Covid. “I’m sure I caught it in a restaurant.”
And what happens outside – on the beach or at a campsite?
Outdoors are generally low risk and, if nothing else, people tend to have less social contact while on vacation. “People are often with their families and usually do not make huge contacts outside of their household, they stay out of work and school,” said Professor John Edmunds, of the School of Health & Tropical Medicine in London. “In fact, being on vacation is not very high risk. There are exceptions – going to clubs and bars – but I do not want to stop people from having fun. ”
Do I have to do a Covid test before I fly?
Again, check the rules for your destination. Many places in Europe no longer require you to arrive at check-in anxiously holding a bundle of documents, but the test requirements are generally not exhausted. Travelers to the United Kingdom must present a vaccination certificate or test negative for a PCR test performed within 72 hours or an antigen test performed within 48 hours prior to departure. Spain and Portugal have similar requirements. There is a range of austerity outside of Europe. Beyond the rules, should travelers feel a moral duty to take a test? Edmunds says he does not want to “tell people what to do”, but notes that a well-established rule of medical examination is that it does not make sense to take a test unless you are going to act on a positive result. “If someone takes a test, finds out he’s positive and goes anyway, what’s the point?” he said. “Ideally, if you are positive that you should not board a plane or public transport, you are putting other people at risk.” At a time when many are struggling financially, canceling a flight is painful. However, some airlines still have specific refund rules if a flight has to be changed due to Covid and offer more flexibility in changing flights than before the pandemic.
Do I need to show a vaccine card?
In some places, including the United States, vaccination is a must. For other destinations, no vaccine means getting tested. For anyone who is eligible for a souvenir or for children who have not taken their first dose, it can be a particularly good time to find out. “We know that booster doses provide this supplement for protection against serious illness, but for a few months the dose also provides relatively good protection against infection,” Cowling said. “It’s time to pierce if you have to.”
If I take Covid abroad, will I need to be isolated?
Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, now have minimal legal isolation requirements. But France and Italy, for example, continue to impose seven days of isolation after a positive test. In the end, some countries require quarantine in hotels or hospitals. “One of my PhD students ended up spending 18 days in a solitary confinement room at a Shanghai hospital while traveling to visit his family,” Cowling said. “It could be a different kind of vacation than you would have planned if you had spent it in a secluded room.”
Where will the highest and lowest Covid rates be?
Coronavirus cases have risen sharply in recent weeks, with the latest figures showing around 2.3 million across the UK last week. But at this stage, with high prevalence and many countries limiting surveillance, it is difficult to determine with great certainty which countries will be the hotspots in two months from now. “It is quite difficult to predict what is going to happen in the UK and we have better data than anywhere else,” said Edmunds. “I do not think it is possible to do that with any precision.”
