Traveling in Times of Covid-19

09-14-2020

By Dickson Barasa

My journey to my home country during the times of Covid-19 has reminded me of how people who were suffering from leprosy were treated. The lepers were to notify everybody on the street that they had Leprosy. They did that by putting on a kind of bell that rung and alerted any person around. It was also interesting for me to learn that an individual was isolated for a number of days. (Lev. 14:8).

Although traveling has been one of my hobbies, this changed early this year with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. When I set off for Kenya to see my family, I had to acquire a certificate that showed negative results. Although it was not required for boarding the flight at O’Hare International Airport, it was a mandatory document at the Frankfurt Airport where I had my connecting flight. Consequently, I would not have been allowed to enter my country of birth if I would not have had that certificate.

Traveling in these unprecedented times is so challenging that everyone is scared of everybody. It is even more scary than the times when people who were suffering from leprosy had to wear something to show that the person was coming. Today everyone is a suspect and that's why everyone has to take the precautions so that we can keep one another safe.

Traveling is not very enjoyable and fun as it used to be before the outbreak of Covid-19. As we strive to keep one another safe by having a face covering, long distance journeys are very tricky because, at some point, one has to take off the face covering. As we await the vaccine which we are not sure of any time soon, we have to carry on our daily activities, not in the same way as we used to do, but in a very different and careful way.