Many of our clients are asking us about the coronavirus outbreak, and whether it is still safe to travel whilst this well-reported epidemic is ‘sweeping the globe’.
Firstly, it is important to remember the coronavirus (professionally known as COVID-19) is far less dangerous than many other ‘regular’ illnesses (the common flu kills 60 times more people annually). The risk to those travelling is actually very low, though we recognise the situation is unsettling and we take our clients wellbeing extremely seriously.
For that reason, we are closely monitoring the situation, and would encourage you to make specific enquiries into the status of the country you are visiting before booking any tickets. This is actually something we would recommend you do before visiting any country overseas anyway.
We recommend the following sites for the most up-to-date health and safety information:
www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
Centre for Disease Control & Prevention – Coronavirus
There are, however, a number of precautions you can take to help reduce the spread of this, or any other, contagion when you’re travelling abroad.
- Take hand sanitiser with you, and use it regularly.
- Remember to wash your hands.
- Cough or sneeze into a tissue and bin it.
- Avoid highly populated areas and crowds.
Some local authorities may have also introduced additional screening measures and travel restrictions at airports and cruise ports to help monitor tourists’ health
Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and they can appear 2 – 14 days after contracting the disease. This is why many people arriving back into the country from high-risk areas are choosing to initiate a two week self-imposed quarantine to avoid passing anything on.
If any of these symptoms do appear, DO NOT visit your GP or doctor’s surgery. Instead, call the non-emergency NHS number 111 for advice.
