Planning your first trip post COVID-19
Different parts of the world have been fighting COVID-19 in different ways and in varying degrees of success. Those who have been locked down for months eg. Italy, Spain, France and the UK are slowing starting to look at going away for a holiday in August or perhaps even at the end of July. Whilst some can’t wait to get on a plane or travel to a different country, with or without their family, others are still pondering what a holiday amidst the coronavirus may be like and whether it’s worth the risk and the money for a holiday that might not be quite the holiday they’re after or used to. How would social distancing work on beaches, cafés and public swimming pools? Europe has all but reopened to British holidaymakers, but would you still want to go if you have to wear a face mask?
As debate continues to rage over the efficacy of face coverings, here are some of the European countries you can go without one. Some of the advice is confusing however Canada is safe to visit, according to the FCO, but foreign visitors are still required to quarantine when they return home. Cyprus is blocking all arrivals from the UK and New Zealand may not open its doors until 2021. As of July 15, the FCO no longer advises against trips to 66 destinations, while 75 places can now be visited by Britons without the need to self-isolate on their return:
UK
Masks are mandatory on all public transport, and from July 24 all shops. Beyond London they are still a relatively rare sight but be prepared to be refused entry if you are not wearing one. Find yourself a nice little holiday cottage in Norfolk or Suffolk coast and try to forget about how the world has gone crazy. Note that many of the coastal areas in the UK are home to older residents who are taking the mask wearing very seriously and will tut you and perhaps even avoid you if you aren’t.
Finland
Finland has just reopened its borders to visitors, but only to those arriving from low-risk countries (Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Greece, Malta, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Cyprus, Ireland, Andorra, San Marino and the Vatican). The UK may well be added to this list in the coming few weeks as new cases in the UK continue to fall. Restaurants, cafés and bars reopened on 1st June, with some restrictions in place but there is no mandate requiring you to wear face masks, even if travelling on public transport.
Denmark
Visitors can enter Denmark without a 14 day quarantine if you’re arriving from the UK, and once you’ve landed you can take off your face mask. The Danish Foreign Office advice states: “No more than 50 people are allowed to gather either outside or inside (public transport, supermarkets, airports and workplaces are excluded). Public gatherings of more than 500 people are not allowed anywhere until at least September.”
France
France have a fairly relaxed approach to masks with public transport and taxis the only places they are obligatory (and only for those aged 11 and above). Accounts suggest life is largely back to normal outside the big cities, too.
Italy
Masks must be worn inside in cafés, bars, restaurants and hotels. Local authorities in the Italian region of Lombardy, the region worst hit by COVID-19, have made it illegal for people to walk outside without a mask, but they're not mandatory elsewhere in the country.
Croatia
A gorgeous Mediterranean holiday hotspot. Croatia was one of the first countries to reopen for holidaymakers, and its rules on masks are less strict than Spain or Turkey. In Croatia face masks must be worn in shops, on public transport, and in taxis.
Switzerland
Switzerland require masks on public transport, alongside some social distancing restrictions but it has taken a relatively relaxed approach in general. Smiles can still be seen on the café and restaurant terraces. The FCO states: “All shops, restaurants, cafés, markets, museums and libraries can reopen with social distancing measures in place. Restaurants can cater to groups of more than four people. Events of up to 1000 people are permitted’. So if you want to party the Swiss won’t stop you.
Some governments, especially in Europe, are allowing and in some cases encouraging domestic trips and visitor arrivals from certain countries (usually neighbouring countries).
In Germany, Spain, Italy and Greece, it is compulsory to wear masks inside shops and fines are imposed if you fail to do so. In Italy, people will be removed from public transport for flouting face mask rules.
In Spain however…
Travellers and tourists on the Costa del Sol in Spain have been told they must wear face masks while on the beach and at swimming pools, with heavy fines for anyone who fails to do so.
The strict new rules came into effect at midnight on the 14th July, and were part of a wider increase in restrictions across several areas in Spain after a spike of infections.
Andalucia, home to the popular resorts of the Costa del Sol including Magaluf, a popular destination for the Brits, has put into place some of the strictest laws in Spain, requiring everyone, including beachgoers, to cover their mouths and noses at ALL times while in public, and with a harsh penalty of £91 for anyone caught ignoring the rules. Villa rentals or taking over a small boutique hotel in Spain could be a good alternative option for the summer and even looking ahead into the Autumn and for next year.
Sunbathers and swimmers will however be allowed to remove their masks, as long as they stay within their own household or ‘bubble’ or maintain at least a 1.5 metre social distancing gap with other members of the public.
Children under the age of six don’t have to wear masks.
Similar rules apply at public or hotel swimming pools, where you are can remove your mask while swimming or sitting down at a safe distance from those outside your bubble, but you must put one on again to move around the pool’s edge.
As of 10th July, unless you have visited or made a transit stop in any other country or territory in the preceding 14 days, you don’t need to self–isolate when you arrive in England from the following countries and territories:
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, BarbadosBelgium, Bermuda, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao (Macau), Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Montserrat, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, Poland, Reunion, San Marino, Seychelles, South Korea, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spain, St Barthélemy, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Vatican City State, Vietnam.
What was once a few clicks on a site for a quick break or holiday, now requires thought, preparation and flexibility regarding where you go, how to get there and what you do on arrival. Of course pre-trip preparation is more vital than ever now that insurance doesn’t cover COVID-19 so it’s important you look at what the triggers would be that could make you cancel your trip. Here are some pointers to help you plan:
Where you go and how to get there
It maybe that where you have booked wasn’t, at the time, a COVID-19 hotspot but since booking it has since become one. You’ll need to take a decision, possibly at the last minute, as to whether you want to carry on with your trip as planned, cancel or change to another holiday destination. The authorities may have already made one or a couple of these decisions for you by banning travel to that country or putting in place quarantine measures. Flexibility is key as is research and plans B and C.
A road trip could put you more in control of the outcome, but you’ll still need to plan and make sure you have hand sanitisers, anti-bacterial wipes, plenty of water along with hand wash so you can keep your hands clean after filling up with petrol or stopping for a break.
Planning to travel longhaul? Check what the free ‘rebooking’, voucher and refund policy is: do you get a full refund or just a voucher? Is it free to change the dates and rebook or is there a fee involved? If prices have gone up or down since you booked will you get a refund or have to pay the increase? Are there restricted dates or time constraints on re-booking
Private villas are likely to give you more flexibility than a hotel when it comes to cancelling or postponing. Staying in a villa or a private rental allows you to be more in control of sanitising and disinfecting and staying clean and bacteria-free as there are no shared common areas with strangers or hotel guests.
Think about what you would do if you had to quarantine for two weeks on arrival.
Should you swim in a hotel pool?
Dr. Susan Hassig, an epidemiologist at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine: Yes, I think it is ok as long as you follow all of the other parameters. You should stay masked until you get into the water, stay away from others in the water, and keep your sun lounger at least six feet away from others if possible. We know that the prime way the coronavirus is spread is through airborne contact with droplets, hence the reasoning for using face masks. Many people use the pool together. If someone is coughing and spitting water a few feet away, you can catch the coronavirus. Keep social distancing in the pool and stay away from people who are shouting and in groups. Playing Marco Polo is probably not the best pool game to be playing in the COVID-19 era.
If the pool is not at all crowded and social distancing is possible, the risk is low. Masks worn by the pool when not eating will minimise the risk further.
How do the risks for catching coronavirus in swimming pools differ from those in the sea?
Hassig: I don't know that they differ that much. The same sorts of conditions apply. It's not the water you need to be concerned about; it's the people who are also trying to enjoy that space. Masking and keeping distance is essential. The coronavirus isn't going to survive in saltwater—it’s going to denature over an extensive period of time. It's not going to survive in chlorinated water either, which acts very quickly on it.
What do we know about COVID-19 and sunshine?
Dr. Sten H. Vermund, Dean of Yale School of Public Health: Sunshine inactivates virus, but it does take a little time. On stainless steel or plastic, SARS-CoV-2 lives up to three days, and on cardboard or paper, up to one day. You can presume that full sunlight might reduce that by two-thirds, but that’s just an approximation. A droplet or aerosol in proximation to others will still be risky.
What you’ll do when you arrive at your final destination
Again, it comes down to flexibility in what you can do when you get to your final destination. If your holiday is geared around beaches, theme parks or activities on a public scale then it’s going to be totally out of your control as to whether these venues will be open or closed – they may be open at the time of booking but are then closed before your trip due to a recent outbreak. This is where plans B and C come into play.
You need to decide if you would you still want to take that beach holiday if you could only make do with a sun lounger on a balcony or terrace? Maybe this is the time where you spend a little more for a place with more outside space and a pool. Now might be a good time to invest in that kindle you’ve always had your eye on or if you’ve already got an iPad download the kindle app to store up on e-books and perhaps a few games and films, in case you’re stuck.
Carefully consider what you would do and how you would feel in the event that you had to quarantine on arrival – and possibly on your return as well – that could be 4 weeks of quarantine in total. Would you be able work from home or would that be a deal breaker? obviously you’d have to check with work. It may sound like a stupid question, but would you be happy to sit around in your Italian villa enjoying local food and wine if everything was closed? At a hotel, you’d like to see measures like clear partitions or plexiglass between paying customers and staff, rental chairs being wiped down and disinfected after each use, and staff taking all of the necessary precautions as they relate to food—signs that management is diligently trying to suppress the spread.
What you need to do before leaving for your holiday
Travel insurance and the small print of travel insurance has never been more important. Make sure you are crystal clear about what your travel and medical insurance covers and doesn’t cover. This is essential. Many insurance plans have changed their coverage for COVID-19-related health issues, as well as disruption of travel plans that could “reasonably” (!) be expected as a result of it.
Should you have any health concerns, particularly those that might be COVID-19-related, talk to your doctor as soon as you are starting to plan a holiday. You might decide to stay at home as much as possible before your departure date, to reduce the likelihood of possibly spreading the illness on if you were infected. You’d probably want to be planning to do the same on arrival, and when returning home.
How and where will you source masks, and how, where and when you’ll wash them if you’re bringing reusable ones, in addition to the logistics of keeping clean and dirty masks separate. You’ll want to be as self-sufficient as possible for a certain amount of time so think about what you would do if you were stuck with no access to food or drink shops and take some snacks with you as backup.
It’s worth thinking about what the causes are that might make you call off the trip entirely. This will be different for every traveller and every trip: if you’re planning to simply sun yourself in your French friends’ garden for a couple of weeks, that will be very different to if you were planning a city culture trip to Rome.
For reference note down the go/no-go triggers, as well as all of your backup plans and relevant telephone numbers so you have everything to hand in case of the worse cases scenario.