Vacation abroad now allowed
While now allowed, you cannot just, on a whim, jump on the plane like you used to. There are several requirements
A lot of us enjoy traveling abroad. The fun of discovering new places, people and culture. When I travel, I shif t to vacation mode soonest I set foot on the plane. I get that exhilarating feeling once I strap myself to the seat. No matter how long the flight is, I do not mind. I sleep. When I awake, I eat, watch in- flight movies or listen to music. When the plane touches down, I get so pumped up. My family and I love to befriend the locals, taste their food and booze, of course, immerse in their culture and explore every nook and cranny. And yes, all these memories are immortalized on stills and video. Are they not so much fun to look at and watch when vacation is over? At the end of our trip, we come back home, beaming with much contentment, looking forward to the next one. When that time comes, the thrill and excitement wildly gush through our bodies again.
Then came March. Suddenly, traveling abroad was prohibited. Yes, that month and those that ensued meant trying to get refunds for canceled flight bookings and hotel reservations. When can we travel again? No one knows. Maybe next year? Hopefully. So, all we have are just memories of our travels. No certainty when we can make new memories again. That feeling of not being able to discover new places indefinitely is just so heartbreaking.
Good news is, “effective 21 October 2020, the restriction of non- essential outbound travel of Filipinos shall be lifted. ”(Section E, Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases ( IATF) Resolution 79 released on 15 October 2020).”
While now allowed, you cannot just, on a whim, jump on the plane like you used to. There are several requirements.
“For those traveling on tourist visas, submission of confirmed round- trip tickets and adequate travel and health insurance to cover travel disruptions and hospitalization in case of COVID- 19 infections during their allowable period of stay abroad. Execution of a Bureau of Immigration Declaration acknowledging the risks involved in traveling... As a pre- boarding requirement, a negative Antigen test result taken within 24 hours before departure... Upon return, they shall follow the Guidelines of the National Task Force ( NTF) for Returning Overseas Filipinos... ( Section E. b and c, IATF Resolution 79).”
It also mentions that to be infected, you will have to fly 54 hours on the plane with an infected passenger. I guess that will greatly assuage our fears.
Admittedly, there are now a few additional measures making traveling more of a hassle. Be that as it may, at least we now have the freedom to go abroad again. And it came sooner than we all expected. Time to visit the places on our bucket list. Exciting times ahead.
But then again, I noticed that passengers are still seated next to each other on the plane. There is no one seat apart for social distancing. Especially in economy, passengers’ elbows literally rub against each other. Is there not a disconnect here? Just when I was pondering on this, I came across an interesting article that seems to address my concerns.
Do read the “Coronavirus exposure risk on airplanes very low, US defense study finds” published on 16 October 2020 in Reuters. That article states that in a study conducted on United Airlines aircraf t, mask- wearing helped in minimizing infection exposure even when the passenger next to you sneezed. It adds that the efficient air circulation and filtration system of the airplane filtered out 99.99 percent of the particles within six minutes. It also mentions that to be infected, you will have to fly 54 hours on the plane with an infected passenger. I guess that will greatly assuage our fears. I do not think any of us can continually fly straight that long. For as long as all airlines have the same air circulation and filtration system as United Airlines, hopefully we are safe.
Please do not get me wrong. I am not encouraging you to fly. Neither am I saying that flying now is utterly safe. Just sharing what I found. You can probably do a little more research on it.