What is COVID-19?

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are normally transmitted between animals and people. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that has not been previously identified in humans. It was first reported to WHO on the 31st of December, 2019 in Wuhan, China.

COVID-19 has now gone wide throughout the world creating a global panic in all 7 continents. The symptoms of COVID-19 includes fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Regarding the current scenario in Nigeria, where 1 positive case of the COVID-19 virus was discovered from an Italian Business on a visit in Nigeria on the 27th of February, 2020, this irreversibly has impacted the travel industry in a big way. The constant fear of being getting infected or whether to travel or not has canceled travel plans of many.

Also, several countries are now mulling border shutdowns and conducting more strict screenings at the airport. Moreover, those who are traveling back from the infected countries have been asked to quarantine for a few days at their homes or at special healthcare units. Thus amidst all the tension and chaos, one can travel and he should travel intelligently while taking all the preventive measures.  As we know it advances through person-to-person transmission, one should take effective actions to avoid the infection.

Therefore if you are not sick and healthy then you can travel, while taking all the preventive measures and here we have some of the best tips to prevent Coronavirus while traveling.

Wash your hands frequently

It is important to wash your hands frequently with alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. This will help in keeping the virus away from you. So make sure wherever you are clean your hands after every 10-15 mins. There are many hand sanitizers that are available in the market, make sure to carry them along. If not hand sanitizer, many wet wipes, and mini hand wash you can carry.

Maintain social distancing

Maintaining a distance of 1-2 m from the people is advisable, don’t move into crowded places and avoid the rush as much as you can. This will help you in keeping yourself away from the infected people and in spreading the virus.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and face

Do not touch your eyes, nose, and face, when you are in public or generally as well as hands can transfer the virus into your body and can make you sick. The idea behind is we as a human have a habit of touching face, nose, and ears, thus when traveling we came in contact with many bacteria and viruses. So it is advisable to avoid as much as you can.

 

coronavirus- COVID-19
Image source: NHPR

 

Practice respiratory hygiene

Its advice to carry your masks along with you and if you sneeze or cough cover yourself with tissue and dispose of them immediately. This will help people around you from viruses such as cold, flu and COVID-19. There are many kinds of masks available in the market, which will help you in dealing with bacteria and viruses.

Maintain a healthy diet and drink lots of fluids

Maintain healthy eating habits while traveling, avoid eating street food and from unhygienic places. Drink lots of water and juices to keep yourself hydrated and away from viruses. This way you will release out toxins from your body and eventually won’t fall sick.

Who should avoid traveling?

According to WHO, elderly travelers and those with underlying health conditions delay or avoid travel to areas that are experiencing ongoing transmission of COVID-19. That is because the disease, while mild in some 80 percent of cases, can be fatal for people who are above 65 years or who have chronic illnesses.

Therefore it is advised to all the travelers to take all the precautions and travel safely, without getting infected or spreading the infection.

 

COPIED: Hello Travel