Coronavirus: instructions for travelers and tourists

Prevention measures

The most important thing now is to carry out prevention so as not to be infected and not to infect others. This is especially important for travelers if for some reason you have not yet returned home. Preventive measures are quite simple, and nothing special does not differ from prevention in any kind of SARS:

• Wash your hands with soap and water as often as possible for at least 20 seconds. it is even better to additionally use a hand antiseptic with at least 60% alcohol (according to the latest data, at least 30% is allowed).
• Do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with your hands, including if you are wearing gloves.. It is through the mucosa of these organs that viruses enter the body, so even if you are wearing gloves, they will just as well enter the body from their surface.
• Avoid close contact with sick people, and preferably with everyone. that is, do not hug, kiss, or shake hands. Interestingly, there are no confirmed cases of sexual transmission of coronavirus, but still it is worth refraining from this if the partner is infected.
• Keep your distance from other people on the street, in transport, shops and any other public places. The recommended minimum distance varies in different sources, and is from 1 to 2 meters. It is especially important to maintain a distance in queues at the airport at check-in, passport control, baggage claim and customs control. Unfortunately, not everyone (most) understands this, so in such queues use a mask.
• If you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose. Throw used napkins immediately into a closed urn, and then wash your hands.
• Wipe household surfaces you come into contact with regularly with disinfectant., such as kitchen appliances, dishes, tables, smartphones and tablets, keyboard, computer mouse etc.

Separately mention the wearing of gloves. Gloves do not protect you from the virus, because it does not penetrate through the skin of the hands into the body. Wearing gloves protects objects from getting the virus on them from your hands (if you are infected), or vice versa. Therefore, while wearing gloves, it is extremely important not to touch your face with your hands, cough or sneeze on the gloves, otherwise they are useless. After you have removed them, you should disinfect your hands.

I'm coming back from abroad, what awaits me

According to the decree of the Chief Sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation, all citizens staying in Russia must be sent to isolation for a period of 14 days. Moreover, for those living in Moscow and the Moscow region, isolation is provided at home, and for all others - only in the conditions of observatories. In other words, if you return from abroad and do not live in Moscow or the Moscow region, you will be placed for 14 days in an observatory (Hospital, Sanatorium and other converted institutions for isolation). You will be completely isolated, including from relatives.

In this regard, and due to the unwillingness to accept and place in isolation a large number of arrivals from abroad in the coming days/weeks, delays and cancellations of export flights from abroad are possible, some flights are planned to be redirected from Moscow to the regions to distribute people to sanatoriums there. Therefore, constantly monitor the situation and check the status of the flight online, email and read all SMS, so as not to go to the airport in vain.

There may be many other questions about this, here are the answers to them:

• I do not live in Moscow or in the Moscow region, but fly there, and fly / go further home by train. Will I be put on isolation too? yes, you will be placed in the Observatory, and at the place of arrival in Moscow. The availability of tickets and other circumstances do not play a role, you will have to spend time here.
• I have to fly or go further, but I was placed in the Observatory. Will my tickets burn? Yes, your tickets will just burn. But now you can return the entire cost of Russian Railways tickets even for non-refundable tariffs (but you need to do this no later than 8 hours). It is also possible to cancel the reservation and return the cost of air tickets (at least partially), but you need to deal with each a/C individually through the support service.
• I have no signs of the disease, I have not had contact with the sick, and in general, the country from which I return is not on the list of dangerous. Will they put me in too? yes, they will be placed regardless of the country of residence and state of Health.
• I went back earlier (before March 31) and I wasn't put anywhere. Do I have to self-isolate at home, or will they find me and put me in an observatory? 14 days of self-isolation at home is provided for all those who arrived from abroad earlier. We do not know about cases of someone who arrived earlier being found and placed in an observatory.
• I returned earlier (until March 31), I did not fill out any questionnaire at the airport, no one told me about self-isolation. Should I observe self-isolation at home? yes, they should. Information about this is published everywhere and is brought by all means, so it will not work to" mow " that they did not know anything. Information about you from airlines is transferred to Rospotrebnadzor and operational headquarters, so they will find you in any case, and they will check you at home, except in rare cases due to shortcomings.
• I'm at home on self-isolation, I can't leave the house at all? yes, you can't, not at all. And it is necessary to exclude contact with relatives.
• I am at home on self-isolation. Is there any penalty for this, or can I safely go out for a walk/on Business, etc.? The situation with the legislation and the measures taken is constantly changing and differs by region, but in general, yes, penalties are provided. You may be issued a fine or forcibly sent to isolation in an institution.
• I'm at home on self-isolation and have nothing to eat/can't take out the trash etc. What to do? You can order delivery of food and products at home. If you can not or do not want to afford it, then now in every city there are volunteers who deliver food and help with garbage removal, etc. you can find them through chat rooms, Operational Headquarters, social networks, etc. But be careful, there were cases of fraud.
• I am at home on self-isolation. Will I be tested? yes, they will. Depending on the region and city, you can be checked every day and even several times a day by police, doctors, representatives of Rospotrebnadzor and anyone else. But be careful, there were cases of fraud.

Is it possible and worth buying tours now

Yes, in theory, you can buy tours, but you need to take into account that there is a risk of losing money and being left without rest, even if you buy a tour at the end of the year with an eye to the fact that the epidemic will end and the panic will subside. The fact is that tour operators cancel all previously purchased tours for March and April, for which they must return money to customers. But many tour operators have already incurred expenses on them, so a series of unintentional, and possibly deliberate bankruptcies against this background is not excluded, and accordingly not a refund.

Of course, it is necessary to take into account the possible dangers even when purchasing tours abroad and in the Russian Federation for the summer or autumn period, because different experts and specialists give completely different estimates of the end of the epidemic from several weeks to the end of the year. Therefore, the most reliable way is to buy tours for recreation in Russia, and only from well-known and old tour operators. And it is even better to go on vacation, independently buying tickets and booking a hotel.

I already bought the tour, and I want to cancel it

If the tour is bought for the nearest period, then unfortunately you will not fly anywhere anyway, all tours will be canceled. But you should not cancel it on your own initiative, so you will get almost nothing as compensation. It is better to wait for its cancellation by the tour operator, and then you will be offered either a refund or the opportunity to rebook it at a later date.

Questions on the cancellation of tours and the return of money will presumably be discussed at the government level. There is a proposal to allow tour operators to return money for canceled tours not immediately, but before the end of the year, for example, to prevent bankruptcy. We are waiting for the decision and news.

Is it possible and worth buying air tickets now

With air tickets, everything is a little easier: you are better protected than with the purchase of tours. However, do not buy tickets abroad with departure for at least the next 1-2 months. At the moment, all flights outside the Russian Federation are suspended, and when permission will be given again is not clear. Even if you see tickets for the next dates, this does not mean that the flight will take place. It will almost certainly be cancelled.

Buying tickets for domestic flights is still possible without restrictions, and it seems that nothing portends trouble. In addition, domestic airlines began to discount prices well, and now is a great time to buy tickets for the summer or autumn. But on the other hand, who knows how the situation will turn out: perhaps domestic flights will be canceled or reduced due to low demand, or even restrict the movement of citizens by administrative means. Therefore, if there is an opportunity to postpone the trip for a month or two-it is better to postpone.

What to do if the ticket has already been purchased, and how to fully refund the money for the ticket

If the ticket has already been purchased, do not panic and cancel the reservation on your own initiative with the loss of the amount paid. Now you can return the full cost of the ticket even at non-refundable fares, but for this the flight must be canceled, i.e. there must be a "forced return".

Thus, Rosaviatsia suspended all regular and charter flights from Russia from 00: 00 on March 27, 2020. The timing of the resumption is not reported. This means that your flight abroad with the departure of the next month, most likely, will not take place, and you only need to wait for information about the cancellation closer to the departure date, and request a refund through the support service by phone or email, or online on the site.

But be careful! Once again, it is important to wait for the moment of cancellation of the flight at the initiative of the airline. As the practice of recent weeks shows, airlines announce the cancellation of the flight only a few days before departure (since the terms of resumption are not known, and also to provoke passengers to refuse tickets on their initiative), and only after that you can get a full refund. And by the way, you can request a refund due to cancellation even after the date when the flight was supposed to take place. Be patient, because the support services of airlines and ticket agencies are overloaded.

For domestic flights of the Russian Federation, the situation is similar, but somewhat different. Flights within Russia continue to operate, but many of them are reduced. Therefore, you may receive a notification about the cancellation of your flight and transfer to another flight at another time a day or two before departure. In this case, you can also refuse tickets and get their full value.

Some airlines, due to the situation of COVID-19, make concessions, and even if flights are not canceled, offer special "softened" conditions for return-replacement. For example, Gulf Air introduced for all fares, including non-refundable ones, the ability to change travel dates for free for all tickets already purchased for dates until the end of this year. And the well-known Asian state employee AirAsia offers in addition to the free change of dates another option: to refuse the ticket, but the funds will be credited to your personal account in the form of bonuses for their subsequent use until the end of the year. But in such cases, do not rush to agree to these "tempting" offers, because it is likely that the flights will be canceled, and then you will have the opportunity to fully refund the cost.

I have a hotel booked but the trip is cancelled, what to do

In our experience, there are no big problems with canceling prepaid and non-refundable hotel reservations. World search engines Booking.com, Agoda.com et al. introduced the possibility of free cancellation for all hotels. To do this, a special additional button appeared in the booking management for such a cancellation, but in the comments to the cancellation it is better to indicate the objective reason (flight canceled, borders closed, etc.).

I'm stuck in another country, flights cancelled, hotels closed, what to do

If it turns out that you are locked in another country due to border closures, flight cancellations, inability to obtain entry permits (if you must transit through a third country), then be sure to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the hotline or other means of communication (see contacts of the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation for an emergency situation). Of course, do not expect instant miracles, but at least you will be taken under control, and will facilitate the return to their homeland. You need to try to stay always in touch, for which you replenish your phone account number, buy a local SIM card and connect the internet if possible. In our practice (the authors of the site) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs quite successfully and actively uses modern internet messengers for communication, it is only important that you are always available. You can also install the mobile application of the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation " Foreign Assistant".

Many countries now prohibit accommodation in hotels, which, of course, shocks those who are in the country and can not fly, because there is nowhere to go, do not spend the night on the street. But in this situation, do not rush to panic. There are lists of accommodation facilities that are still allowed to host foreign tourists for such occasions. Unfortunately, they are not published in the media, but you can try to find them on the websites of the Ministry of foreign affairs of the relevant country, or get in the system of burning support for tourists. In our practice, the list of such facilities was sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after being informed of being in a difficult situation, and the government of the host country (the Republic of Cyprus) organized free accommodation in these hotels if there is a reservation in other (prohibited) hotels for these dates. In extreme cases, if you did not have a reservation for another hotel and do not have funds, or it is impossible to get such a list, private accommodation options remain: Airbnb, local bulletin boards and local residents to help you. Well, a very extreme case-go to the airport, there it is quite possible to spend 1-2 nights in an emergency.

Sites where to get the latest information and where to ask for help

• https://www.mid.ru/ - Address and contacts of the MFA hotline.
• https://www.russiatourism.ru - information and contacts of the Rostourism hotline.
• stopkoronavirus.RF – here is the latest official information about the situation with the number of cases, precautionary measures, restrictions imposed.
• https://www.russiatourism.ru/urgent/16614/ - official data of the Federal Tourism Agency on closed countries for the sale of tours and restrictions on air traffic.
• https://yandex.ru/web-maps/covid19 - world map with covid-19 infection statistics.

🕒 16 January, 2026