Travelling through the pandemic

By Olivia Snaith-Cairns

Travelling is such an important part of most people’s lives, and that hasn’t changed since the Covid-19 crisis came around in March last year. Whether you are taking the Tube to work or flying abroad, we all depend on public transport systems to make getting from one place to another possible.

In June 2020, the government enforced mandatory face coverings on all public transport in the UK from the 15^th. For shops and supermarkets it became mandatory from July.

But some people don’t wear a mask in places where the government requires them to. Masks don’t just mean they are protecting themselves, it also means they are protecting others, especially those who cannot wear a mask due to health conditions or other important circumstances.

Holloway Express spoke to a few individuals who have travelled during the pandemic, both abroad and in big cities, to get their view on how they found travelling since the pandemic started.

Joy Musumeci, a second-year student from London Metropolitan University, recently travelled from London to Italy and back. She said: “Travelling during coronavirus looks very different from what we know. For the people who think that travelling during a non-Covid day is stressing, I’d recommend not to try it during Covid times.”

“Honestly, I’m not saying it because of the risk of taking the Covid, but because of the times that it takes to get wherever you want to go. Obviously, it is due to all the controls and the social distance”.

“Apart from that, due to all the reduced flights the airport was really quiet, and most of the shops and bars were closed. Moreover, there were also sanitizer stations almost everywhere.”

Before travelling, Musumeci thought she would have been scared of going to the airport where there are thousands of people from all over the world. But, after making a journey, she found it ‘very safe’.

“I think that most of the people are following the restrictions given by the government. Obviously, there will always be that small percentage who doesn’t follow them; but from what I can see, everyone using public transport wears face masks,” said Musumeci.

Guy Chackarov is a photographer and videographer from Israel who currently lives in London and depends a lot on public transport. He said: “Personally I prefer to walk but I didn’t have any problem getting a train or a bus to wherever I needed to go.

“I feel safe because I see most people are actually obeying the rules and keeping their masks on and their distance. Besides that, knowing I’m a young, healthy man makes me feel safer than others,” he says.

Chackarov said that he thinks that the government are ‘doing the best they can without causing mayhem, which is good as we know people don’t respond well to mayhem’.

If people continue to wear masks and keeping distance as required, protecting themselves and others, we will be well on the way to fighting the virus and returning to normal life and safe travelling!