I think flight attendants (who cycle through flights to lots of countries) will be the main vectors, and you should avoid touching them or things that they touch.
Things to bring:
Face mask
Lysol wipes for tray table, armrests, etc
Mini hand-sanitizer to use after touching things
Unclear how to get something small enough to go through security. Perhaps it can be bought in the airport though?
Anti-nausea pills to avoid throwing up
Water bottle
Things to do:
Do pay for a window seat to avoid touching everyone as they walk past you.
Do (if you can afford it) pay for an upgraded seat where you’re not stuffed in with people.
Don’t touch anyone on the plane.
Don’t accept anything from the flight attendants.
Don’t touch your face. (Men should shave facial hair to help with that.)
Don’t eat anything that they give you on the plane, and maybe avoid eating at all.
Don’t get out your laptop or basically anything else you own that you’re not happy to throw away straight afterwards e.g. buy cheap headphones to listen to on the flight and then throw them out, cover your phone in copper for the flight, etc.
As soon as you arrive at your destination wash the clothes you’re wearing and take a shower.
(People have recommended wearing goggles. I am a bit concerned about freaking out the airline staff and being kicked off the plane for looking like you have a disease, but maybe a sleep mask can do the work here.)
Yeah. I was initially considering recommending just-not-eating for the flight, but my friend is going to be travelling for 20 hours, and if you’re not used to fasting I think you start to feel panicked and make dumb decisions after not eating for so long. So will probably pack a bunch of protein bars and ensure hand-washing before and after eating.
I was able to buy hand sanitizer after going through security at JFK on Sunday but I wouldn’t count on that. Fwiw, Purell bottles small enough to take through security seem pretty common.
Don’t touch your face. (Men should shave facial hair to help with that.)
When it comes to protecting from STD’s genital hair has a slight protective effect. I could imagine that facial hair also has a slight protective effect.
Are there any studies on the question of whether men who have facial hair are more likely to get influenza or other coronaviruses?
Pubic hair moderately protects only against those STDs which infect skin cells and are transmitted by skin-to-skin contact: herpes, HPV, molluscum contagiosum.
Respiratory viruses do not infect skin cells and people aren’t rubbing their faces together, so there’s no plausible method of action here.
Another random thought: wearing gloves is probably not a great idea in the default case, but if you wear gloves and then replace them, it seems like that’s probably about as good as washing your hands or using hand sanitizer (and might be easier to do often when sitting in your seat on the plane; it might also dry out your hands less)
Another thing you might want to bring: swimming or safety goggles. Iiuc, it’s possible for viruses to spread via your conjunctivae (although this is probably a much smaller effect than transmission via nose or mouth).
Unclear how to get something small enough to go through security. Perhaps it can be bought in the airport though?
Liquids that are in containers that are 100ml (3.4 ounces) or less are allowed past security checkpoints in Europe and North America, so look for a hand-sanitizer bottle that meets that criterion. Here is some evidence for this claim.
Re facial hair: it’s recommended not to have facial hair when wearing a face mask, because it makes the seal weaker. Do you think the protective effect is larger than that effect?
I plan to shave my beard tomorrow in order to help with wearing masks and to stop touching it. If ChristianKl or someone can show evidence that it reduces risk of STDs in sex and make an argument that this situation is similar and substantive, I will reconsider, but I expect that touching your face is much more important than having protection on it.
I think flight attendants (who cycle through flights to lots of countries) will be the main vectors, and you should avoid touching them or things that they touch.
Things to bring:
Face mask
Lysol wipes for tray table, armrests, etc
Mini hand-sanitizer to use after touching things
Unclear how to get something small enough to go through security. Perhaps it can be bought in the airport though?
Anti-nausea pills to avoid throwing up
Water bottle
Things to do:
Do pay for a window seat to avoid touching everyone as they walk past you.
Do (if you can afford it) pay for an upgraded seat where you’re not stuffed in with people.
Don’t touch anyone on the plane.
Don’t accept anything from the flight attendants.
Don’t touch your face. (Men should shave facial hair to help with that.)
Don’t eat anything that they give you on the plane, and maybe avoid eating at all.
Don’t get out your laptop or basically anything else you own that you’re not happy to throw away straight afterwards e.g. buy cheap headphones to listen to on the flight and then throw them out, cover your phone in copper for the flight, etc.
As soon as you arrive at your destination wash the clothes you’re wearing and take a shower.
(People have recommended wearing goggles. I am a bit concerned about freaking out the airline staff and being kicked off the plane for looking like you have a disease, but maybe a sleep mask can do the work here.)
If you’re avoiding taking things from flight attendants make sure to bring enough food.
Yeah. I was initially considering recommending just-not-eating for the flight, but my friend is going to be travelling for 20 hours, and if you’re not used to fasting I think you start to feel panicked and make dumb decisions after not eating for so long. So will probably pack a bunch of protein bars and ensure hand-washing before and after eating.
I was able to buy hand sanitizer after going through security at JFK on Sunday but I wouldn’t count on that. Fwiw, Purell bottles small enough to take through security seem pretty common.
When it comes to protecting from STD’s genital hair has a slight protective effect. I could imagine that facial hair also has a slight protective effect.
Are there any studies on the question of whether men who have facial hair are more likely to get influenza or other coronaviruses?
Pubic hair moderately protects only against those STDs which infect skin cells and are transmitted by skin-to-skin contact: herpes, HPV, molluscum contagiosum.
Respiratory viruses do not infect skin cells and people aren’t rubbing their faces together, so there’s no plausible method of action here.
Another random thought: wearing gloves is probably not a great idea in the default case, but if you wear gloves and then replace them, it seems like that’s probably about as good as washing your hands or using hand sanitizer (and might be easier to do often when sitting in your seat on the plane; it might also dry out your hands less)
Another thing you might want to bring: swimming or safety goggles. Iiuc, it’s possible for viruses to spread via your conjunctivae (although this is probably a much smaller effect than transmission via nose or mouth).
You can buy bottles for arbitrary gels, and then put hand sanitizer in those bottles.
Liquids that are in containers that are 100ml (3.4 ounces) or less are allowed past security checkpoints in Europe and North America, so look for a hand-sanitizer bottle that meets that criterion. Here is some evidence for this claim.
Re facial hair: it’s recommended not to have facial hair when wearing a face mask, because it makes the seal weaker. Do you think the protective effect is larger than that effect?
I plan to shave my beard tomorrow in order to help with wearing masks and to stop touching it. If ChristianKl or someone can show evidence that it reduces risk of STDs in sex and make an argument that this situation is similar and substantive, I will reconsider, but I expect that touching your face is much more important than having protection on it.
Oh, whoops, I somehow misread your original post (“shave” was edited to “have” in my brain)