The summer in the northern hemisphere is coming to an end and 2022 now seems not so far away, so you may be beginning to wonder about our 2022 expeditions and Covid.
The pandemic is still in full swing with waves rising and falling around the planet. With the situation as fluid as it is, it is impossible to predict what the circumstances will be in our various expedition countries when we re-start expeditions early in 2022, let alone later in 2022. Suffice it to say that we are monitoring the situation closely and that we will draft a hygiene and safety protocol for each expedition and publish this 6-8 weeks before each expedition is due to start.
At the moment our thinking is that the basic principles of each hygiene and safety protocol should be as follows:
1. Only fully vaccinated people (with certifications proving their vaccination status) will be allowed on the expedition.
2. Those that are not fully vaccinated may be allowed to take part if (a) there is a certified medical reason why they cannot be vaccinated – in that case they must provide a negative rapid / lateral flow / antigen Covid test immediately prior to the expedition commencing and will need to be re-tested at regular intervals during the expedition, or (b) if their country of origin has not offered vaccinations to them – for local staff we will try to compensate for this via private vaccinations where they are available; where this is not possible, the testing scheme as above will apply.
3. We will also require a rapid / lateral flow / antigen Covid test from each expedition member immediately prior to the expedition commencing and may repeat this test at regular intervals, as needed.
Remember these are just thoughts and plans at the moment. We are sharing them with you now to assure you that we are staying on top of things and so that you can comment. Please do, if you wish to.
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