The Social Distancing Double Standards and The Spread of Covid

I duly obtained the required additional travel certificates you need these days, bumping up the costs by around $500; just to fly from Bali to Singapore via Jakarta.

Thanks to the multiple tests, insurance, and a “special travel lane pass, “ your already pricey Holiday season air ticket of $500 just jumped up to $1000.

The testing and vaccine business has become a fast-growing industry, providing jobs and income for thousands of people and companies. That’s all well and good, as it’s now essential to have the vaccine and trained people administering testing.

But why isn’t it free and government-subsidized since it is (unofficially) mandatory?

Whether they say vaccinations are mandated or not, vaccination and testing are mandatory if you wish to fly anywhere. Fact!

Yet despite the obligatory vaccination and testing requirements to fly, the spread of Covid via air travel is proven and continues. The latest Covid variant named Omicron originated from South Africa and was transported by undetected infected passengers traveling by air worldwide.

The Double Standards of Airports and Airline Companies.

I took two trips in the last 2 weeks, and every flight was at 100% capacity — social distancing was not an option unless you opted to spend the flight in a bathroom, which I considered!

It was the same in the airports — long lines of passengers at every gate hustling down those metal tubes to the plane to get to their destinations in time for Christmas.

Airport shops, restaurants, and waiting areas were all slammed. Nobody observed or enforced the social distancing protocol, which requires a seat to be empty on each side of you. It’s enforced in restaurants and cinemas, for example, so why not in planes, I wonder?

While waiting for my flight, walking around was my only option, which was a good move for multiple reasons.

1.) I observed folks talking loudly to each other and on their phones as they unknowingly spat in each other’s faces.

2) Walking means exercise and fat burn, which is definitely a better way to kill your waiting time than sitting.

Next, the airport transfer buses were vastly overcrowded to the point where you could barely move. Again, folks are talking, and some are even coughing.

Around 90% of passengers wore masks, but many were also not — mostly the case among small groups of folks traveling together.

These described circumstances create the perfect breeding ground for Covid infections to spread, as, despite all the testing and jabbing, people are still catching the virus and testing negative until it’s too late.

They have already traveled and unknowingly infected dozens of others.

Sidetrack:

New York testing, versus Indonesia testing.

I saw a report on CNN about the testing problem in NYC. Hundreds of people were standing in line, waiting to get a test in the cold. NY State officials say they don’t have enough testing facilities or test kits. These are facts, admitted by NYS health officials and backed up by CNN camera teams!

Indonesia’s population is around 270 million (close to the US population), consisting of about 17500 islands. Transportation is a great challenge, yet you can find multiple testing centers in all cities and villages, no matter how big or small. Anyone can get tested within a few minutes without having to wait in line — it’s organized perfectly.

Summing it up.

It became abundantly clear that airports and airlines are exempt from the strict Covid Health & Safety Protocols, particularly social distancing, which is the easiest of all of the rules to enforce.

Despite passengers having to go through a lengthy, complicated, and costly process even to be allowed to enter an airport to fly, once in, you pretty much lose your rights — airport operators and airline staff control your life as long as you’re stuck with them.

Clearly, different rules apply to these two business sectors, which is troubling as it’s proven time and again that flying is the most significant contributor to the worldwide spread of the Corona Virus and its many strains.

I saw enough, I had enough, and called off my further travel arrangements; instead, I returned to Bali to sit it out.

Traveling is not justified when you have to put your life on the line.

That’s what I think.

Thanks,

Rob