Traveling with young children during the COVID era | world | WORLD

More than two years after the start of the pandemic, we are all dealing with the challenge of resuming the common activities of before. Despite cases in some regions rising again, in most parts of the world people are booking vacations, eating out and returning to the office. Daily life is finding a way.

Parents of young children find themselves in a particularly difficult situation. Even if the risk of COVID remains, vaccinated people have good protection against serious illness should they contract the virus. But because vaccines for children under 5 are still undergoing efficacy trials, they are not available in many parts of the world, including USA y Canada.

Last week, a federal court in Florida blocked the mask mandate for public transportation, and major airlines scrambled to scrap its requirements. For children under 5, masks are one of the few protections available, and the new rules have prompted some parents to reconsider their upcoming travel plans.

“If families are traveling with children, especially young children who may not have optimal mask use, the risk is likely to be higher during the flight.”dice Bertha Hidalgofrom University of Alabama at Birmingham. In situations where others may not be wearing masks, she says, it’s a good idea to do what you can to make sure kids keep their masks on.

Abraar Karanphysician specializing in infectious diseases Stanford University, says that wearing one-way masks is better than wearing nothing at all, especially if those masks are KN95 or N95 masks that fit well. While true N95 masks are not made in toddler sizes, wearing multiple layers of masks can help reinforce their effectiveness.

Some relief is also the fact that airplanes generally have better air filtration systems (called HEPA air filters) than other closed environments. These filters can remove more than 99% of airborne particles, including those associated with SARS-CoV-2the virus that causes COVID.