With the many travel plans and resolutions that 2020 brought along for many people, it also raised global fear with the introduction of the novel Coronavirus disease. What started as a disease with unpredictable consequences, rose rapidly and took many countries under its wings.
As of 30th June 2020, WHO reported 10M+ confirmed cases and 508k+ deaths, globally. The countries that have been hit hard by the disease as of now are the USA, UK, Russia, Brazil, India, China and other Southeast Asian countries, European countries such as Italy, France, etc, Iran, Japan, Korea, and the list goes on.
What impact did Coronavirus have on travelers and B2C/B2B/B2E travel portals?
The outbreak of this disease came as a big shock and disappointment for people who were eagerly waiting for their long-awaited vacations or trips. Moreover, travellers who were returning from destinations or were on their way were stranded at airports with cancelled flights and a fear of being affected by the disease. On the other end of the spectrum, some of the travel enthusiasts were completely unaffected by the impact of Coronavirus and continued their travel journey with adequate measures and protection.
With travelers avoiding trips and canceling their bookings, travel businesses are losing out on their commissions and revenue. While in other cases, travel agencies lure customers with great discounts and deals, they don’t seem to have much of a choice in this situation. Travel app development companies do not have much work to do.
Is it still safe to travel with the Coronavirus outbreak?
With the rapidly spreading disease, rising death tolls, and speculations about Coronavirus, health officials are urging everyone to be cautious. This includes avoiding crowded places, flight trips or cruise ships. Amidst all this chaos, it is best to avoid embarking on non-essential trips and staying safe at your own destination. However, if your travel is absolutely necessary or you are a risk-taking traveler, you can still travel provided you ensure caution at every moment.
That being said, owing to the outbreak of this deadly disease, many airlines have cancelled their services, flights have become costlier, and the travel screening procedures have become stricter. This basically means that, unless absolutely necessary, you are not only spending a huge amount on flight tickets but also a lot of time waiting in queues to go through multiple screening procedures. And all this with a risk of contracting this disease at any time.
Which countries should you avoid traveling to?
It’s common sense that one should absolutely avoid traveling to countries largely affected by this disease. USA, Russia, and Uk and China top this list, followed by countries such as South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran, Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Macau. While travel to these countries has not been banned completely, however, the health authorities of different countries are urging their nationals to avoid non-essential travel or to adopt strict caution while traveling. Moreover, many countries have cancelled e-visas, visa-on-arrival, and other visas for people traveling from specific countries.
What are the don’ts for Coronavirus as a traveler?
Epidemics have come and gone, but the world keeps moving. Diseases can’t stop travelers from traveling or the world from moving ahead. So, like a traveler who’s adamant about completing your long-planned trip, here are the don’ts to keep in mind while traveling.
- Don’t travel or go out without wearing kn95 drmfyan or any other protective face mask.
- Don’t touch your nose, eyes, and mouth with your hands without washing or sanitizing them.
- Don’t travel if you are feeling sick or have the symptoms of the virus. Doing this would help avoid the transfer of the disease to healthy people.
- Don’t panic. Ensure you take all the precautions to avoid getting infected.
- Don’t shake hands with people irrespective of them being infected or not.
- Don’t use masks if you are not infected and living alone, so as to leave them for infected people and avoid shortages of masks. Try staying 6 feet away from infected people or people showing symptoms of cold or flu.
- Don’t travel to countries that are on a warning list and have a rapidly increasing number of infected patients. Some of these countries are China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran.
The Bottom Line
By now, you may have already done a lot of research yourself on Coronavirus, as well as heard a lot of discussions every day on this trending topic. You would already be aware of the virus, its symptoms, and its impacts on different countries. With sufficient information to take proper precautions even while living in your surroundings, you would understand the importance of delaying your travel plans for a while.
Moreover, people with upcoming travel plans can contact their airlines to know refund and cancellation policies. However, if they wish to travel despite the virus scare, they can also check the advisories posted by airlines on their website, read about the disease stats of the country they are traveling to, and follow proper measures to avoid contracting the disease.
