And for all of us, travel has been impacted due to the global pandemic. We are trying to balance our want to travel with our need to stay safe and healthy.
The good news is that technology is making it easier for us to stay informed and keep safe. Whether it’s technology you use or can take advantage of -- or both.
The more you can social distance yourself from others the better and technology is here to help avoid crowds before you arrive. That’s more of a challenge when taking public transportation to get around --normally the easiest and cost-effective way to see a city. Cities and companies around the world know how important public transport is to keeping a city running and are investing billions of dollars to use technology to disinfect and inform riders.
We know that Covid-19 is airborne hence all the precautions we have been told we need to take. What if you could clean your airways like you clean your hands?
There is a new device on the market - a nasal spray called FEND - created by a Harvard scientist David Edwards that claims to do just that. You take 2 deep breaths of the spray, about 3 times a day, and tests have shown it gives you an extra layer of protection from having the virus infiltrate your lungs and reduces your chances of exhaling droplets of Covid-19 for a period of a few hours.
It’s another example of the ways technology is trying to ensure that we are more protected as we travel (whether we fly or stop at road stops), stay at hotels, or venture out to a restaurant, take in the sights, or walk around town.
Hotels know that in order to get heads in beds they need to build confidence and do everything they can to keep guests safe. Like most things during this time, hotel rooms have never been cleaner with the investments being made in technology that aids safety and cleaning practices as well as to create more social distancing. What can you do:
With safety a huge concern for people, especially health safety during a pandemic or personal safety when traveling to unfamiliar locations, there is one app that stands out that helps you stay safe. GeoSure is a free app available on smartphones or watches designed to take into account safety concerns that matter most to YOU and provide you with a real-time update on the safety score of a certain area. The score is based on a rating scale from one to 100, with the higher number being safer for the criteria that matter most to you. For example, scores are measuring health and medical (from Covid-19 outbreaks to access to medical care and local hygiene); personal harm; theft; basic freedoms, nighttime vs daytime safety, women’s safety, and LGBTQ+ safety with more categories to come. The app covers over 65,000 locations across the world and draws upon hundreds of sources to develop the ratings. Sources include the U.S. State Department, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the Center for Disease Control, and user reviews. The rating factors in criteria including women’s safety, political freedoms, physical harm, theft, and overall safety. Recently, the app added functionality to launch localized LGBTQ+ safety ratings. Download today for iOS or Android.