Is it wrong to travel abroad while coronavirus cases surge in the UK? Not if you’re responsible

There’s a widely held belief that a British traveller who ventures abroad at a time when infection rates are soaring is reckless beyond measure. I strongly disagree, writes Simon Calder

Testing times: Terminal 5 at London Heathrow (Simon Calder)

Social media can be deeply cruel and upsetting, but it has the compelling virtue of enabling anyone to communicate with a journalist instantly – and to leave him or her in no doubt about the reader’s feelings.

Last Saturday afternoon I had the good fortune to find myself aboard a ferry from Corfu to Igoumenitsa on the Greek mainland. The departure time coincided with the start of my regular Facebook Live for The Independent, in which I seek to bring the audience up to date on the constantly shifting travel landscape – and provide answers where I can.

Most of the questions that flow across the screen are about the rapidly narrowing options for holidaymakers in a world where infection rates are soaring and travel restrictions are multiplying. But one was aimed pointedly at my situation.

The gist: “Are you not feeling irresponsible – and will you expect the overstretched NHS to treat you when you come back with the virus?”

As the corrugations of the Corfu coast melted into soft focus, the question provided the perfect crystallisation of a widely held belief: that a British traveller who ventures abroad at a time when infection rates are soaring is reckless beyond measure.  

My behaviour indicates I strongly disagree. For months I have argued that an excellent way to reduce cases of coronavirus spreading in the UK is for British travellers in good health to export themselves to the Mediterranean, where the outdoor lifestyle and low rates of infection will make them far less susceptible to Covid-19. I happen to have been tested for the virus very recently before departure to Greece, and believed I did not present a threat to the local population. Conversely, with a fraction of the infections in Greece, I was far less likely to become a burden for the NHS than had I remained in the UK.

Courtesy of social media, though, I know how widespread and deep-rooted is the view that overseas travel should stop right now. I appreciate that international aviation facilitated the rapid spread of coronavirus, and that in worrying times a fear of outsiders is amplified. But I will continue to travel responsibly as much and as far as I can, and do what I can to break down barriers of the mind.

Yours,

Simon Calder

Travel correspondent