Flying In The Pandemic: How To Cope With Folks Who Ignore Risk Reduction Rules : Goats and Soda - NPR

2) Everyone knows how to wear a mask and social distance by now..

At some airports, such as Denver International Airport, passengers may get a reminder from airport staff — or an offer of a free disposable mask.

Only if you can do so gently and without provoking that person — best not to prompt a screaming match, which will certainly increase aerosolization, says Abraar Karan, a Harvard Medical School physician.

And consider upgrading your own mask before you fly, perhaps to the type of mask classified as KN95 and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Whenever you're in a situation where not everyone is wearing a face covering properly, "you'd feel a lot more comfortable if you had a really good mask on," Karan says.

Is there any way to make sure passengers don't crowd each other at airports.

"The reality is, you can have masking and distancing rules, but whether or not people follow them and whether they're easily enforceable is a very different thing," says Dr.

But while he's strongly in favor of public health policies, a more effective path to adherence is encouraging people to mask and distance so compliance is pretty much baked into our brains – like wearing a seat belt, he says.

"The more habitual and common people make it the more people will have peer pressure to do it.

Eat beforehand so you're not tempted to hit the food court (and don't have to take your mask off for an in-flight refueling).

Earlier in the pandemic, many airlines were not booking middle seats to create more distance between passengers?

"If you have someone right next to you without a mask on or coughing or sneezing or a mask that's poorly fitting, the bets are off," Karan says.

A study of a September flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to New Zealand shows how much proximity matters: At least four people within two rows of a contagious passenger were infected with the coronavirus.

And unfortunately, you can't count on airlines or public health departments to notify passengers if someone on your flight is subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19?

"It is really important, but it gets complicated on a flight," says Karan, pointing out how quickly people disperse.

Some airlines in other countries have implemented policies and precautions aimed at reducing risk, such as China Airlines' guidance for people not to touch their eyes, nose or mouth during the flight.

But passengers who test negative before their flight may turn out to have the disease once they get to their destination, because it usually takes a few days after infection for tests to catch the virus