OK – you are probably sick of this topic already, but I feel I have a need to get my two cents in. Before I begin my ranting and raving about this topic, I know this does not pertain to most of you, but it needs to be explained to some of you. There seems to be a misunderstanding about testing for Covid-19, which is amazing since we are 14+ months into this situation. I have heard people advocating on the radio, podcasts and TV, that traveling is perfectly safe because there is so and so much testing on the way there and again on the return trip. Additionally, depending where you live there is also the quarantine or isolation period, when you come back home, so all’s good, right? Wrong. This is a very, very big misunderstanding. If you travel to to countries that are red zones or even just zones that are a worse off then home is you are exposing yourself to infection. Extensive testing does not, and I emphasize not, make it safe for you to travel. It absolutely does not. Now is it used as a mechanism to get the wheels of society turning again, absolutely. Testing you before you go anywhere has protective abilities, it’s just not protecting you directly.
The science
Testing is for the rest of us that don’t travel. The rest of us that stay home and do our best. Now, I am not saying that if you travel that you are not doing your best. I don’t know why you travel, and frankly it’s none of my business. I am not here to travel shame you, I’m really not. What I want to do is to dispel the fake science out there. Because, what I do know is science, and the science says that you are putting yourself at a greater risk for catching Covid-19 if you travel to countries or zones that have a higher rate of infection then where you live. Period. You also come in contact with more people when you travel then at home, so there is also that. The extensive testing when you leave and come back, is not for you. It is so we can isolate the infected person so he or she doesn’t spread it. Testing does not make you safe it makes society more safe.
Quick disclaimer, I am a biologist and not a MD, but I understand epidemiology and the workings behind the science.
Why test if it doesn’t protect you?
Firstly, no testing method is fail-safe, and that is why many countries like Iceland, Australia, New Zealand and more, have stricter requirements than a simple on off test. These requirements range from a multitude of tests both before and after arrival to extended periods of a quarantine or both. Now, the reason for testing is multi layered. In addition to catching the virus before it can spread to other hosts, so to speak. There also is the opportunity to collect DNA for sequencing in order to detect mutations. Some we need to keep an eye on, like the ones we know like the UK variant, the variant from South Africa, the Brazilian one, or any variant that shows increased transmissibility, increased risk of hospitalization or resistance to a vaccine. Testing is however not intended as a protecting mechanism for the individual getting tested.
This leads me to my second point. Only two things protect you; total isolation or a vaccine. Well the latter can be a bit tricky – with mutations popping up all the time and questions about how long we actually retain the antibodies are all at play here – but you catch my drift.
Don’t confuse this with me saying they don’t work, because they do. They absolutely do so when one becomes available for you, my suggestion is to take it. Get vaccinated – please. For everything, not just Covid-19. Vaccines work.
Have I made my position on vaccines clear? They work!
On becoming a hermit
Am I saying that until then, you should go live in a cabin in the woods? No. I am saying be careful. Think of your nearest and dearest or just your good neighbor, before you take unnecessary risks. No amount of testing is going to protect you from, well, you. If you travel to a red zone you are putting yourself at risk, and furthermore because we see it over and over again that no amount of testing, quarantining, social distancing and handwashing is full proof, there is always the risk of you bringing something back that you really didn’t intend to. Being that one, the one that brought it in, can’t be fun. So I say; if you don’t have to travel I would suggest staying at home.
Easy for me to say, right? Coming from Iceland I understand the need I see my friends and family back home express. The need to travel. From my friends and family perspective, I am already there. Abroad. But this is the reality of my situation. Where I live, even though my particular area has not been terribly hit by Covid-19, we have more or less been in lock-down since October. That is half a year, with the exception of a short while before Christmas (thank God). I have not been to my swimming pool, where I did my physio work, I have not been to a restaurant, I have not been anywhere, really.
The hardest thing
Not being able to do any of the daily life stuff, has not been the hardest though. No, the fact that I have not physically seen my mother since August 2020 when my niece had her confirmation (I had to ask her – it had been so long). I have not seen my grandmother, nor my friends or the rest of my family back home, since before Covid-19. When my mother lost her big brother and my grandmother lost her firstborn, I could not be there with them. When my son lost his father suddenly, he traveled to Iceland alone, because his was a necessary travel I mine would not have been (he is grown).
But on the flip side I have not lost a single family member to Covid-19. I have electronics to help me keep in touch and luckily I have family here. But I, as well as you, lose out. Of course we do, we are living through a pandemic, and frankly discovering what a pandemic looks like. It’s long, tedious, boring, frightening, irritating, humbling, and flat out infuriating, and not at like in the movies. It just drags out on and on and makes us miss out on a lot in life.
The bearer of bad news
But we need to be patient a little longer. Traveling will be there waiting for all of us if we just wait until it is safe, or at least safer. Don’t fall into the lull of believing that testing makes you safe, it’s for the safety of society and not you individually. Use them as guided, Here it’s before I can go to a restaurant, or to the hairdressers. I protects them if I where to test positive.
Just a little longer
Just try your best, and not be the bearer of bad news, quite literally. Be a team player and stay home if you can. Social distance and wash your hands a million times a day. This too shall pass. Corny enough for you? No, seriously. We are all feeling the pain and the oh so palpable stir-craziness of the situation, but there is no giving up. You can’t just ignore the elephant in the room and just hope he goes away, it doesn’t work that way. Stick with it a little longer, the reward is coming. Freedom.
Information
Below you will find some links to information on for example tests and how they are done.
https://coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/vdt0006/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nervtag-update-note-on-b117-severity-11-february-2021
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/04/02/covid-19-science-why-testing-is-so-important