- As the COVID-19 virus spreads worldwide, more precautions are being taken by governments to keep people safe as they travel.
- Business Insider's senior retail correspondent Kate Taylor has been traveling around Asia for the past month and a half.
- She shares what she has seen in airports and on planes, and what steps you can take to protect yourself.
- Be sure to check the CDC website for all warnings before traveling.
- For the latest case total, death toll, and travel information, see Business Insider's live updates here.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Following is a transcript of the video.
Narrator: For the past month and a half, Business Insider senior retail correspondent Kate Taylor has been traveling around Asia and is now in Australia.
Kate Taylor: I planned a work trip to travel around Asia well before the coronavirus.
Narrator: Here's what she's seeing in airports and on planes in response to the coronavirus outbreak and what she's been doing to travel safer.
Taylor: It's been an interesting time traveling right now, when it's definitely heightened anxiety. People are trying really hard to stay safe, not get sick. But it's gonna be ending in self-quarantine for me no matter what happens.
I started out in South Korea, went to Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand. I've been surprised by how busy the airports I've been to have been. I've been to airports in Seoul, in Ho Chi Minh City, in Kuala Lumpur, and in Phuket. So, all of those airports I would say are still definitely seeing people come through. When I was in Seoul, that was before the outbreak really spread in South Korea, so that might have changed by now. But in general I would say that people are definitely still traveling. I just flew from Phuket to Brisbane, and I was surprised by how crowded that flight was. So I would say that some flights are definitely a little bit emptier than usual, but it's not as striking as I might have thought it would be.
The biggest thing that I've been noticing is the temperature checks. I flew through Singapore to get to Brisbane Airport and there were several different med stations set up where they were kind of monitoring people's temperatures as they walked down the hallway. So, that was something I hadn't seen before. I know that that is kind of more common practice at different airports outside the US already, so not necessarily only linked to coronavirus. And then people have been randomly pulled aside to have their temperature checked at different airports. I haven't had my temperature checked at that many airports, but I have had to have my temperature checked to check into some hotels as I've been traveling.
A lot of flight attendants that I've been seeing while traveling have been wearing masks. I would say basically the vast majority have worn masks. So, that is pretty much the standard at this point, it seems like. Some are wearing gloves as well.
The biggest and I think probably the most effective thing I've been doing to protect myself is sanitizing my seat every time I sit down. So, having some Lysol wipes, Clorox wipes, just these sanitizing wipes, and wipe down the entire area before starting a flight. I felt pretty self-conscious when I started doing this, just 'cause I was carrying around a huge thing of wipes and I felt like it seemed rude, but that is something that I have been seeing more and more people doing on flights and actually has been proven to kind of keep things clean, reduce the chance of getting sick. And whenever you have a chance, just go and actually wash your hands in the bathroom instead of just relying on hand sanitizer.
So, stay clean, just be aware. And if you're next to someone who's coughing, ask to change seats. I haven't had to do that yet, but that's probably a good rule of thumb. If the CDC says it's safe to travel somewhere, then I'm kind of accepting their judgment at this point. I've felt pretty safe during my traveling. I can't speak to everyone, I can't tell people what to do, but I felt safe traveling around to all these different countries with coronavirus cases.
We'll see if I'm naive on that one. I would definitely get tickets you can refund whenever possible. I have probably lost a good amount of money on this trip by getting nonrefundable tickets, so that is a mistake that I have made a couple times. Basically, the situation is changing by the hour instead of by the week or by the day at this point, so something that seems entirely safe one day, the situation could change to something that's not super safe in just a couple of days.
Text on screen:
- Be sure to check the CDC website for all warnings before traveling.
- Wash hands often.
- Cough and sneeze into your elbow
- Distance yourself from others.