Airports are endemic .. How do you protect yourself from getting a corona?

Zahraa Magdy

Corona knocked on the gates of 37 countries, killing hundreds and injuring tens of thousands. At the same time as countries struggle to spread it, people avoid crowded or closed places like planes, rub their hands with alcohol, wear face masks and pin their hopes for survival. But airports are still the primary source of infection among most of the injured. Therefore, we give you the advice of doctors to protect yourself from injury while traveling:

1- You should monitor the spread of the disease around the world, and the state of preparations in the destination country. There are a number of countries that have warned the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention against traveling to them, namely: China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Iran and Hong Kong, except in the extreme necessity, and at your personal risk.

2- Opinions differed about the effectiveness and lack of a protective mask, but according to Dr. Turno, professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University, masks may protect you. But they are not those masks worn by surgeons in operations, because air can leak through gaps in the tissue, and from both sides, because of its lack of tightness.

Terno emphasized the importance of wearing the N95 mask, wherever cases have been reported, as it is strong, filtering 95% of air particles before inhaling, but you need to know that breathing through the mask is a difficult process, but it may protect your life.

3- Be careful with those around you on the plane. Vicky Hertzberg, director of the Emory University's Data Center for Nursing Data Science, found in a study she had conducted on people with respiratory illnesses during flights that they were sitting next to a patient, or in the front or back row of the plane. While the results indicated that there is a low probability of transmitting the virus directly to passengers who do not sit close to any sick traveler.

4- Respiratory doctors advise you to wash hands with soap and water, as it is the strongest line of defense against viral diseases, including corona, colds and influenza. You should always do this. But in airports, it is very different. Imagine the number of things that your hands touched, starting from the car handle that took you to the airport, the seat rest at the reception, the coffee cup, the tables, the public bathroom, the stairs or elevators, and the passport that each employee examines. Think if you rub your eyes or rub your nose spontaneously after any of these procedures.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you can wash your hands for only twenty seconds to eliminate 60% of viruses, and if you do not have a clean sink, you can use alcohol or hand sanitizers and rub your hands together well until the antiseptic has completely dried on your hands, so that the germs do not grow again .

5- In a report issued by the American Government Accountability Office for the year 2015, the American Airlines flight crew revealed that they do not have enough time to clear the plane before receiving new passengers, and that they did not receive sufficient training to protect passengers from the spread of diseases such as Ebola, although this means One thing is that your health may be yours alone.

So you have to clean your place on the plane with disinfectant wipes such as a chair, table, small screen in front of you, even nets, and bathroom knobs. You should not consider using the seat holder handles to move it forward or backward, or extend your hands to the pocket of magazines, unless you are wearing a glove or using a paper towel.

Health care professionals have also suggested that laptops or telephones do not come into contact with the table, and that it is best not to get your belongings out of your bag, unless you have to work, you can put a sheet of paper on the table.

6- If the food presented to you on the plane is wrapped, it is better to keep it inside his paper, not to use the dish provided to you, or to put the food on the table. Never eat chicken, meat or eggs, and replace them with vegetables, fruits, cheese and baked goods. Because scientists believe - unconfirmed so far - that the disease spread due to live animal markets in China, and moved from it to about 37 countries, without making sure whether our eating animals is still safe or not.

7- Stress before traveling is the worst thing you can do about your health. Before traveling, you should strengthen your immune system as much as possible in light of the spread of such an epidemic.

You can start eating at least two days before eating healthy food, vegetables with green leaves, drinking lots of water, taking your vitamins, relieving work stress, sleeping eight hours, and exercising.

8- A small first aid kit on the plane is a good idea, so put antiseptics on hands, alcohol, and gloves that you will use once, bandages of different sizes if injured, pain reliever, vertigo treatment, antibiotic, thermometer to measure temperature, cold and flu medications, And stomach pain pills. Most of your attention is not affected by the risk of infection with the Coronavirus and in your absence in other cases, according to the New York Times.

9- Don't panic, it is possible that the risk of developing corona will be lower on planes than subway, cinema and markets. Because it uses highly efficient air filters that are almost the same as those used in hospital operating rooms, it is called "HEPA" and captures 99% of the microbes in the air, recycling and changing them at regular intervals, so you should not have to worry too much about the air inside the plane.

But if symptoms of fever and dry cough appear after you travel, immediately inform the health authority of the country you are visiting, and tell them your travel history, to check on you and your care, and take the necessary precautions, because these measures prevent the spread of infection.