Published on August 27, 2020
Written by Ha Tran and translated by Hue Minh – Tour Operators for Mr Linh’s Adventures

Is it really dangerous to travel now? In a way, yes it is if one decides to travel to the crowded tourist attractions without thorough knowledge of the safety measures to protect themselves from being affected by the coronavirus. The question here should be: is it a good idea to keep worrying and shut yourself at home from time to time?

As a matter of fact, not only Vietnam but also the whole world is now struggling to cope with the Covid-19 epidemic which is still constantly spreading. It is reported that until August 24, 2020, the total number of infections in the world has reached more than 23 million people and the number of deaths is more than 800,000 people. A terrifying number and of course, it keeps growing every day.

Surprisingly, the number of deaths in the US caused by Covid-19 even surpassed the number of people killed during the Vietnam War.

Historically-wise, from the Middle Ages to the modern world, people have suffered from terrible epidemic diseases such as: the Black Death - darkness covered Europe for nearly a century, killing nearly 60% of European population and reducing global population. The mysterious pandemic Cocoliztli which took place in the 16th century almost wiped out 80% of the Mexican population. Not to mention the Spanish flu that broke out in the middle of World War II and is estimated to have killed more than 50 million people, even more powerful against an army than the actual war.

In the past, the inconvenience of travelling between the continents was also one of the obstacles that prevent the epidemic from spreading out of the continent and it could only seriously affect one region. However, in 2019, the whole world witnessed a dreadful pandemic in the modern period, an epidemic of " acute respiratory tract inflammation" caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is a strain of the Corona Virus, the one that caused the SARS epidemic in China in 2003 and the MERS epidemic in the Middle East in 2012 - pandemic plagues that caused severe human loss and serious effects to the global economy.

With the development of today’s technology allowing people to travel between countries and isolated continents, is one of the main reasons that lead to the rapid and out-of-control spread of Covid-19 epidemic all over the world. Nearly a year has passed since then, but the epidemic situation has not shown any signs of subsiding. New cases continue to increase every day in the most developed countries such as the US, Korea, Japan and other European countries, killing thousands of people.

For Vietnam, residing right next to China, where the outbreak has begun uncontrollably, has made Vietnamese people become extremely nervous about the possibility of getting affected by the neighboring country. Luckily, thanks to a series of carrying out safety measures and social distancing from early April, Vietnam was proud to be one of the rare countries that did not have any death reported with more than 200 cases healed.
We managed to keep the disease under control for almost 100 days when there was no new infection within the community. But also because of that achievement, people began to forget their fears and start to plan for their vacation after a period of suffocating social distancing when the choice was limited to staying indoors. People start pouring to many tourist attractions in Vietnam and as a result the epidemic has returned to Vietnam at the end of July in Da Nang, Central Vietnam, causing fear and anxiety in the whole country. The more excited domestic tourists became the more fearful.

So is traveling now really dangerous? It is indeed, if we go to crowded tourist destinations without equipping ourselves with safety knowledge and methods. For instance, the risk of getting infected if we go to an airport full of people and no one is wearing mask nor respecting social distancing, is surely very high. However, is it a good thing to keep worrying and panicking? We cannot predict for sure when the whole world will be completely resistant to the pandemic, maybe a few months or maybe next year or the year after. So from now until that day, will we just stay at home and not dare to go anywhere and keep doubting about everything? Personally, I think that brings more fatigue than a plague.

Instead, why don't we choose to face the reality and find solutions rather than keep hiding? What we should do now is to follow strictly all the official guidance from the government including wearing masks in the public areas, washing your hands frequently with soap or hand sanitizer, avoiding direct contact with too many people and maintaining a safe distance between people. Specifically, at the moment you can choose remote places with few people like the mountainous areas, ethnic minority villages, places that are not well-known and highly frequented, where you can easily merge with the wild nature, relax and stay away from the bustling cities. This is a good time for each of us to calm down and gaze upon the beautiful lands, beautiful sights, communicate with the friendly locals that have previously seemed to be forgotten.