It’s the season of colds and the flu and with the outbreak of the coronavirus called COVID-19, a respiratory disease, people should cut the risk of catching a respiratory illness on their next flight more than usual. Let’s review some tips on how to prevent it:
- Your health is in your hands: The number one rule to prevent getting sick is to remember to wash your hands frequently. After you use the restroom, before eating a meal, or even after touching the bathroom’s doorknob, it’s always important to keep your hands free of virus particles.
- Choose wisely: In order to minimize contact with other passengers, you should pick a window seat and stay put. Additionally, people in window seats come into contact with fewer passengers because they tend to leave their seats less often!
- Keep your distance: Actually, the best place to sit is away from infected passengers. The ‘transmission zone’ of an infected person depends on the disease, but in the case of the coronavirus the perimeter of transmission risk extends to at least three rows around the sick passenger.
- Wear your mask!: Masks should be worn both by healthy and infected people. If you’ve got the flu on a plane, prevent transmission by wearing a mask and open the overhead vent, as you eject infected particles when you cough or sneeze.
- Drink lots of water: In-flight air has low humidity, which dries out your nose and making it less protective against infection. As you hydrate your body, the chance of this happening is smaller.
When it comes to your health -- and the health of those around you – you can never be too careful. So, let’s be smarter travelers and avoid those nasty bugs!
