Traveling guidelines in hard times of COVID infection

With the global spread of COVID-19, travel, and migration overseas has become a hard choice to make. With more people concerned about the pandemic, booking cancellations have become rampant. On the other hand, world nations are restricting people from entering and leaving their borders. The efforts to minimize the effects of the pandemic is in full swing.

As unnerving as the situation is, all is not lost for the wanderlust or opportunity seeker in you looking to travel abroad. To keep up your travel plans, you need to know how to plan and go on your trip, staying safe from COVID-19.

How safe is it to travel with COVID-19 threat on?

There are certain factors you must consider so as not to get affected by the pandemic.

Age

It's widely seen that elder people are more vulnerable to the disease. If you are above 70 years of age, you must be very cautious and take extra care and be sure of traveling. This is important as the mortality rate has been recorded more for infected people above 70 years of age.

Medical history

Do you already have cardiovascular disease, respiratory ailment, cancer, diabetes or hypertension? Then it's advised that you reconsider your travel plan. Whatever your age, if you have a history of health complications or disease, you are more susceptible to the disease.

The country visited

The statistics of affected countries is changing very dynamically every day. The highest cases reported are in countries like China, Italy, Iran, and South Korea. Traveling to these countries must be avoided as much as possible. Even while traveling to other countries, you should be aware of the facilities they have to ensure that you remain safe. Even after returning from an affected country, it’s best for you to practice self-quarantine for 2 weeks. That will ensure that you don’t infect others. It will even help you to be sure about being infection-free yourself.

Should you plan a trip now?

With several countries taking drastic steps to counter the effects of COVID-19, you must think twice about planning a trip. Many countries that are tourist destinations have banned or restricted entry for foreigners. This is especially applied to travelers from China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea in many cases. This is because these countries are at present the majorly affected ones.

Italy has been completely quarantined. The US has closed its borders to foreigners. Canada has restricted its tourist visa for a month. These and more countries are also practicing internal restrictions. Hence your options for planning a trip are now way too less. You will have to travel only in extremely essential cases and avoid gatherings.

Safety measures if you are traveling at all

The things to do to keep yourself safe from the infection are quite simple and common sense. You only need to be particular about following these instructions issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). These are:

Wash hands frequently

COVID-19 can spread through touch. An unclean hand touching the face, eyes or mouth could make you or others infected. By washing your hands thoroughly with soap for at least 20 to 30 seconds will minimize the chances of contracting the virus. This applies especially if you have been in a public place or traveled in public transport.

If you have traveled by flight, ensure that your hands are cleaned before you leave the airport. In the absence of soap, a sanitizer gel with at least 60% alcohol can be a second-best resort. Also, stay at a safe distance from people who are showing symptoms of flu or fever, like sneezing and coughing.

Clean the frequently touched objects more often with a disinfectant.

Avoid gatherings and crowds

It’s essential to stay away from large gatherings of people and closed spaces. If you ever develop any symptoms, wear a mask and definitely get medical help from hospitals. These symptoms can be fever, difficulty in breathing and coughing. By using masks and reporting at hospitals, you will help yourselves and others. You will save them from contracting the disease.

Insurance coverage for Coronavirus

Your travel health insurance cover will depend on

• Where you travel to and
• When you started the insurance plan.

Also, travel insurance plans could be trip insurance or health insurance.

Travel health insurance offers to cover incidents of accidents or sudden illness that occurs while you are abroad. The policy will cover your hospitalization, doctor visits, medicines prescribed and emergency services such as ambulances.

Trip insurance deals with none of the health-related concerns of the traveler. It mainly deals with issues like lost luggage and the flight and hotel expenses related to it. It facilitates partial or full reimbursement. Some trip insurance plans will even cover you if you cancel your trip.

So, what insurance plan works for COVID-19 coverage? A travel health insurance plan will cover your illness if

• You are infected with COVID-19 in a foreign country where you arrived before there was an outbreak
• You have not ignored any travel advisory warning against traveling to a certain place or country that is infected
• You travel from a country with a high number of COVID-19 cases

And what if you cancel your trip because of COVID-19? Right now, only a “Cancel for any reason” travel insurance plan will cover your trip cancellation owing to COVID-19. In this case, the travel insurance company will cover your trip cancellation due to COVID-19 fear or outbreak. The plan will cover the losses incurred in expenses because of the trip cancellation.

Flight cancellations due to COVID-19

In an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 across borders, many countries have already canceled flights. This is especially so for flights from China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea. So, you will have to check and make sure which flights from and to your country are canceled. You should also conform to the advisories of airlines you are planning to travel with.

Consulting your airline before a booking will also help you learn about waivers and changes in flight fees.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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