Do you think we live in crazy times?
Wait until you hear about these situations you might find yourself in if you travel despite the pandemic.
Health protocols to sleep standing up, double or even triple precautions, incompatible rules between different countries... To believe that absurdity is a symptom of Covid-19.
Read alsoTravel: Covid-19 insurance is now compulsory in 40 countries
Wearing a double mask
After two years of the pandemic, some may have thought they had lost all capacity for astonishment.
This was before learning of the existence of the obligation in certain countries to wear two masks on top of each other.
This is the case in supermarkets and public transport in Greece and throughout the territory of Peru, unless an FFP2 or KN95 type mask is used.
“
The use of a double mask (a surgical mask with three folds below and one in fabric above) or a KN95 to circulate on public roads is compulsory at the national level
, specifies the Peruvian government website.
Additionally, the use of a face shield is
recommended
.
It is therefore necessary to put on a surgical mask on which we add a fabric mask on which we superimpose a plexiglass protection…
The measure is less ridiculous than it seems according to a study by the American health authorities carried out in February 2021: the superposition of a fabric mask and a surgical mask would make it possible to block 92.5% of the aerosols dispersed by the cough, against 44.3% for the simple mask.
Non-recognition of recovery after contamination
In France, after being contaminated by Covid, the French health authorities can refuse you the injection of a booster dose.
“
A person is eligible for vaccination from 2 months after their infection if they are not vaccinated.
If, however, the infection occurred after a complete primary vaccination schedule, the person can receive their booster dose from 3 months after infection
, ”specifies the website of the Ministry of Health.
But, and this is the rub, some countries such as Poland, the United Kingdom or Canada do not consider proof of recovery from Covid to be valid.
Recovered people must follow the rules for non-vaccinated people to enter these countries.
In Poland and the United Kingdom, these travelers will have to quarantine for 10 days, while vaccinated people are exempt.
They will not be able to enter Canada without a compelling reason.
Countries classified in green as inaccessible, and red countries open to tourism
Since June 9, 2021, the French government has maintained a classification of the countries of the world in three colors: green, orange, red (no country has been in red since February 4).
This classification is represented in a map entitled “Travel to and from abroad”.
A very practical tool, at first sight, to know in what state you can plan your next trip while limiting the risks linked to Covid.
Japan, for example, has been in green since this map was created.
It must be because you can travel there without too many problems, one would be tempted to believe.
And no, it's even the opposite: the archipelago has been closed down since the start of the pandemic.
Impossible for tourists to set foot there.
Back to the map.
No red country has been present since February 4, 2022. But red or orange, it changes little for the vaccinated.
The United States, for example, is in orange.
Logically, it must be because you can't travel there.
Still lost!
Vaccinated French tourists can absolutely go there, provided they meet a few prerequisites.
The colors of the countries represented on this map only take into account the restrictions imposed by the French government, and not the rules imposed by the countries themselves.
The French authorities impose very few restrictions to and from green countries, but only vaccinated persons can travel for tourist reasons to red or orange countries, provided they carry out a test on return.
France may authorize travel to Japan, but it does not accept tourists from France.
Conversely, the United States, classified in red, welcomes French tourists on the condition that they are vaccinated and tested.
Read alsoTravel and Covid-19: the updated list of countries classified in green, orange, red and scarlet
In Thailand, two nights at the hotel... five days apart
Some destinations require visitors to self-isolate upon arrival.
Sometimes they are placed in quarantine in a hotel in order to limit contact as much as possible while ensuring that they are not sick with Covid.
In Thailand, the protocol to follow is both less strict and more complex than that.
After meeting the entry requirements into the country, vaccinated travelers must, upon arrival, take a PCR test and sleep one night in a hotel approved by the authorities.
The next day, if the test is negative, they will benefit from an authorization to leave quarantine accompanied by a health check: five days later, they will have to return to the hotel.
The tourists will then undergo a new test and stay again in the establishment while awaiting the result.
They will be able to continue their stay if the test is negative.
However, the authorities specify that the two nights at the hotel can be spent in different establishments.
All this only applies for regions eligible for the “Test & Go” program.
For other regions, it is the conditions provided for by the “Sandbox” program that will have to be satisfied.
But there, that's too much at once, we'll spare you the details.
Read alsoThailand: our experience of the obstacle course to enter Phuket
