20 December 2021

Traveling during the pandemic: What changed?

by Gustavo

December 20, 2021

Traveling during the pandemic: What changed?

by Gustavo

What changed with the Covid-19? The virus emptied bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, forced air, land and even sea aviation to cancel routes, the most bustling cities were left with their streets empty and silent. Almost two since the first alert of cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and now we live in a new world, the question that echoes in our minds is “is it possible to stay Traveling during the pandemic?” and “what has changed with it?” In this article we will address how we should be adjusting to this new world and the main changes that the pandemic has caused in the travel industry which are:

General preventive measures against covid-19
Specific prevention measures

Health Form
Embarkation and disembarkation

General preventive measures against covid-19: Traveling during the pandemic

With the unexpected arrival of covid-19, a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we have had to adapt to the “new normal,” and that includes adopting some general preventive measures in our daily lives, and especially when traveling. The main measures you should take are:

Avoid travel. We are in a difficult time with possible variants of coronavirus, so if possible, postpone your trip. If it is a trip of extreme necessity follow the next instructions.
Wear a mask throughout your trip. Change it every 3 hours, or if it appears to be damp or dirty.
Do not touch eyes, nose, mouth or protective mask. If necessary, wash hands beforehand.

Wash your hands under running water, use soap and rub for at least 20 seconds.
Use alcohol gel greater than or equal to 70% alcohol. Rub on hands for 20 seconds to ensure complete coverage.

Cover nose and mouth with tissue or forearm in case of coughing or sneezing, never with hands. Discard the used handkerchief in the garbage immediately, then wash your hands.

Avoid crowds and physical contact, such as hugging, kissing and shaking hands.
Respect social distancing with a minimum distance of 1.5 meters in public or social gathering places.
Do not share personal belongings.

Clean places and objects that may have come into contact with the virus (mobile phones, doorknobs, banisters, surfaces in general).

Specific prevention measures

In addition to general measures, some countries may request other preventive measures, this includes:

Complete vaccination

Countries like United States, Uruguay, Argentina, United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany are reopening borders for fully immunized travelers. It is worth noting that you must take the vaccine at least 14 days before the trip, check that the vaccine you took is authorized by the European Medicines Agency and have the International Certificate of Vaccination. To learn more about the vaccines with the best European acceptances visit What do you need to travel to Europe in 2022?

PCR test with negative result

The PCR test consists of collecting a sample of the patient’s nasal secretions and then performing the virus identification. Then the search for the presence of the genetic material of the virus begins, if this material is found it means that there may be coronavirus, then a procedure is performed to confirm the infection. For this, a sample is collected from the patient through a nasal and nasopharyngeal swab (sterile cotton swabs are placed in the bottom of the nose and throat). If a large amount of viral genetic material is found in a sample, the test is considered positive. In order to be accepted in certain countries, a PCR test must be negative if the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not present.

Quarantine

Quarantine is an important public health measure to avoid the dissemination of covid-19, the time of quarantine varies a lot, because it is determined by the incubation time of a certain disease, that is, the time between the infection and the appearance of the first symptoms, in the case of covid-19 it can go from 2 to 14 days. Some countries require travelers to stay in mandatory quarantine, the amount of days varies a lot from country to country, for example, there are countries that even with negative test requires quarantine, as is the case of United Kingdom (2 days), others however require isolation only for non-vaccinated, as in France (10 days), Canada (14 days), Argentina (7 days) and Chile (7 days).

Check the complete CDC article about the subject

Health Form

Most countries, particularly in Europe, are requiring all persons traveling by air or sea, including those arriving in transit to other countries, children of all ages, and residents returning to their country to complete a pre-departure Health Screening Form. Required by some governments to ensure safe travel in this pandemic context, this form provides a covid-19 assessment of passengers. The form includes a number of requests, such as:

History of the places you have been in the last 14 days.
Personal information (full name, identity number, passport number, flight number and arrival date).

Your flight information (airline, flight number, seat number, arrival date).
Address information where you will be staying (hotel name, street, house number and city).
Your vaccine information (vaccine name and date).

Vaccination certificate.

To find out more about the mandatory health form and how to fill it in step by step visit Do you know the mandatory health form for travelling in Europe in the pandemic?

Embarkation and disembarkation

After the covid-19 in boarding and disembarking there were some changes, such as the new mandatory health measures: mask during the whole trip, acrylic between the attendant and the passenger (to avoid droplets and contact between the two people), currently there is alcohol in the main points of the airport and in the plane, it is mandatory the distance between 1.5 to 2 meters in queues, as in the x-ray and baggage clearance, there are thermal security cameras to measure the temperature of passengers. An important tip is that in the x-ray the liquid alcohol is retained, so opt for alcohol gel that can be taken without further problems.

It is essential that before boarding you have already checked in at home to avoid being in contact with other people, but if you have to check in luggage it is inevitable to have contact between you and the airline attendant. The frequency of flights is slowly returning to normal, but if your flight is cancelled the airline will contact you by email. In terms of food some places are open and other closed, but this may change depending on the airport, the same happens in stores, in relation to the bathrooms they are working normally.

Is it possible to travel in the pandemic? What has changed with it?

Following all the prevention measures, both general and specific, the answer is YES, it is possible to travel during the pandemic, however these trips are essential, tourism is still very limited, some countries are closed and you will not be able to enjoy the whole experience, so we suggest you wait a little longer until things improve so as not to put your life and that of your family and friends at risk. Unfortunately we are still in a pandemic context and with many covid-19 variants that can be highly contagious and lethal, such as the Omicron variant, for example.

Due to the pandemic many things have changed, as we mentioned earlier in the article there was the insertion of general prevention measures against covid-19, specific prevention measures that can be requested in some countries, mandatory health form and changes in boarding and disembarkation, and to understand more about covid-19, its new rules and the new variant Omicron access the New rules for travel in times of Covid and the link Omicron: how the new variant may affect tourism in 2022.

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