Guide to Self-Quarantine After Travel

Self-quarantine after travel is a significant way to stop the possible transmission of COVID-19, be it to your loved ones or your colleagues at work.

Admit it. It’s a tad difficult to stop yourself from traveling especially when you’re so used to going places way before the onset of this nasty pandemic. Experts, however, stress that it’s important for you to follow protocols. So, even when you can get away with it, you need to remember to self-quarantine after travel.

If you’ve been out of state during Thanksgiving, it’s crucial to self-quarantine after travel. California announced that traveling residents must do a 14-day quarantine right after arrival. Moreover, if you’ve been lengthyly exposed to someone who isn’t part of your household, it’s imperative for you to quarantine yourself, as well.

Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, former director of the division of communicable disease control and prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and a current professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, asserts that people must do self-quarantine after travel, an automatic new normal response as opposed to doing complete isolation when you know that you have the COVID-19 virus. Self-quarantining, he says, is a kind of middle ground between full isolation and outdoor mask-wearing.

The term, “quarantine,” has seemingly lost its gravity as we typically have been hearing it since the onset of this deadly pandemic. Nevertheless, it is crucial to take heed of the different warnings provided by authorities as to the significance of this word. More so, doing self-quarantine after travel allows us to protect others especially if we have been unknowingly exposed to the virus while traveling.

Below are several tips that we should remember as regards the importance of voluntary self-quarantine after travel.

What is self-quarantine? Self-quarantine is the act of staying isolated from others for 14 days after we arrive from a prolonged travel to another area besides our own. This means, then, that you voluntarily stay away from people, even from your housemates, for a period of two weeks to eradicate the possibility of COVID-19 transmission if, for instance, you’ve been unfortunately infected with it. The 14-day rule also allows you to check yourself for the symptoms of the virus as they typically manifest themselves during the said duration.

Aside from staying away from your family and housemates, it is also crucial to stay home from work. This means that you can apply for a work from home arrangement, as well. Doing a self-quarantine after travel includes isolating yourself from work colleagues, preferring to do WFH for the time being. As with the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 to your family, you might transfer the virus to your workmates, as well. A responsible traveler, of course, must aim to halt infection and the two-week isolation is an effective safety measure.

Finally, Kim-Farley shares that, as regards food and other essentials, you may want to adopt a temporary no-contact basis of procuring these things. For example, you can ask your loved ones to leave these implements outside your room or, if you live alone, you can request deliveries to be left on your doorstep. Paying for these goods may be done through digital means, as well. Self-quarantine after travel is your way of helping halt the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus as more and more cases are still being reported daily.