Written By: Satata Karmakar | Updated : February 26, 2021 11:46 AM IST
Is it safe to travel if you have got the COVID-19 vaccine?
Covid-19 vaccines are here but are we safe? One must realize that the virus has not gone anywhere. It is still lingering and thus making sure that the safety rules are being followed is extremely important. With the vaccines, people in India seem to have overcome the anxieties of the pandemic and are looking forward to a year of regularity. What comes to your mind when someone uses the word normalcy? travel or traveling, isn't it?
Online bus booking portal conducted a survey with around 9000 customers. And here's what they found.
According to the researchers, the survey revealed the intent for a higher frequency of travel over the next 3-6 months, with 48 per cent of the respondents seeking to travel at least once a month after 3-6 months, taking the travel intent back to pre-Covid levels when it was around 47 per cent.
What is the most preferred place to travel for the Indians? Hill stations are where people in India will be travelling this year for leisure, followed by beaches, with 46 per cent of the respondents opting for the mountains and 28 per cent to the sea shores.
When it comes to religious travel, Tirupati (26 per cent) and Shirdi (12 per cent) are the most popular pilgrimage destinations followed by Madurai, Nashik, and Varanasi.
Probably yes, if you've already had your two COVID-19 shots, you can book your tickets to your favourite destination. Vaccination provides you immunity from the virus but still, you need to be cautious. Why? Let's know this in the next para.
Did you know that the risk of catching the virus is still alive? Let's know how you can make sure that you are safe after going back to a normal lifestyle. With intercity travel gradually inching back to its pre-Covid levels, the most important factors for outstation travel apart from safety/hygiene turned out to be: Having a comfortable journey; Reliable schedules and punctuality; and Travel cost.
Comfortable journey, hygiene/sanitization, and punctuality/reliable schedule turned out to be the most important factors for outstation travel by the respondents. Always keep a hand sanitizer gel with you. Make sure to clean your hands frequently and thoroughly.
Make masks your best friends. Doesn't really matter whether you are vaccinated or not, wearing a mask is compulsory. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth when you are outside. You can also choose double masking. What is double masking? Cover your mouth with a cloth mask and on top of that use a surgical mask.
Foods that are being cooked by someone else and are available outside are more likely to be causing you bad health problems. And basic pandemic rules are still important to be followed. Only by practicing these one can defeat the virus.
The virus spreads from humans to humans, thus it is important to make sure that everybody is following the WHO's pandemic rules which makes social distancing a priority.
A behavioral shift that has been evident in recent times is the preference for online bus booking. This was evident in the survey with 95 per cent of respondents mentioning that they would prefer to book their bus tickets online now.
Air-conditioned buses are also making a comeback with their preference levels going up to 50 per cent compared to 39 per cent as per a similar survey done earlier in June 2020.
But, is it safe to travel in an AC bus amid coronavirus surge? Let's see what experts have to say. Recent research has shown that ventilation and air conditioning influence airborne virus transmission risk.
And lastly, if you see any of the previously discussed symptoms of the novel coronavirus, make sure to self-isolate.
