Coordination

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Proposal

Background information

C1

Keeping intense communication among partners informing each other about possible travel restrictions or other conditions that might impact the project.

Updated travel restrictions are available on:

- ECDC

- IATA dedicated page and
Tourhero.com: country-to-country restrictions published
(updates are published in a few days after a decision is made);

- Re-open EU app;

C2

Assigning a Project Responsible by both the sending and the hosting organizations for each mobility and providing their contact details for the participants.

For faster communication and trust-building, the contact persons need to be clear for the participants.

C3

Reaching out to the Coordinating National Agency funding the project before the mobility starts in order to understand how they can tackle cancellations due to the COVID19 situation and in which conditions force majeure can be invoked.

Cancellations might require immediate response so that Coordinators need to know beforehand how to deal with the situation and avoid contacting the NA officers only when the situation occurs unless an extraordinary situation appears.

C4

Planning the mobility’s activities in relation with their COVID19 related risks.

Texas Medical Association presented several categories of risks connected with various activities.

Travel

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Proposal

Background information

T1

Purchasing tickets, whenever possible, via Paypal or through the bank card. Thus, avoiding:

• bank transfers;
• cash payments.

- Paypal has a dispute mechanism for undelivered good and services within 30 days;

- Banks usually accept chargebacks when the client can prove the services are not provided or the provider is not responsive/does not agree to reimburse.

- List of airlines accepting Paypal

T2

Buying tickets directly from the airlines, avoiding intermediaries.

In the case of cancellations, each intermediary will create delays and the airline and travel agency might pass the responsibility from one to another.

T3

Preferring airlines that are part of an alliance or operating frequent connections between the point of departure and the destination.

Airlines belonging to an alliance can reroute a passenger on the other alliance airlines flights in case of a flight cancellation or missed connection.

T4

Minimizing the number of connections of an itinerary.

In case an itinerary segment is affected, it might impact the other segments and, if purchased with different providers, they might decline any responsibility for the missed segments.

T5

Booking group tickets.

In case of changes, the participants would be together and ready to support each other. Also, looking for alternatives might be faster for a group traveling together.

T6

Procuring an EU Health Card or private health insurance by each participant.

The coordinator and the partners should ensure that each participant possesses insurance before departure. Also, this cost is eligible under the organizational costs category.

European Commission advice on safe travels

T7

Reading and downloading the terms and conditions for tickets and insurances purchased in order to be familiar with their procedures.

During the COVID19 pandemic, many companies updated their terms and conditions so what you check at a certain moment might be different than the situation at the purchase time.

T8

Going paper free:

• electronic tickets,
• electronic check-in, using a mobile boarding pass;
• printing at home the baggage tag if possible;

Paper documents and tickets might transmit the coronavirus or might reduce the social distancing.

> IATA list of countries allowing mobile boarding pass, home printed bag tags or electronic bag tags

T9

Covering the costs of mandatory PCR tests required for travelling

Justified with relevant invoices/receipts and the official authorities decisions requiring a PCR test for certain categories of citizens, the cost of the PCR test could be an eligible cost under ”Travel costs” or ”Exceptional costs” headings.

Logistics

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Proposal

Background information

L1

Securing an additional room available for isolation purposes in case a participant or staff member shows any symptoms. Having a private bathroom is preferred.

Depending on the local context, it might take some time until the Health authorities could come to examine the symptomatic person. In this period, any contact with the group is forbidden.

L2

Informing the participants about nearby hospitals and pharmacies, in the info pack, or at the availability of the organizers.

In the case of Coronavirus suspicion, most Health authorities advise against going to the hospital or to the pharmacy and, instead, calling the emergency services and waiting for instructions.

L3

Providing disinfectant in common places and solutions to clean private spaces.

Even there is no common agreement between scientists regarding the use of masks or gloves; at the beginning of the mobilities; those can be provided to the participants as a kit; or, the participants can be advised to bring their own products.

L4

Cleaning the rooms and the common spaces on a daily basis.

The coordinator should decide which alternative would be more suitable for the project context:

• involving a third party person for cleaning duties might;
• asking the participants to assume the responsibility of spaces cleaning in shifts and/or based on volunteering.

L5

Opting for individual use of materials (mugs, pens, papers) instead of common use.

A common use of materials might increase the risk of coronavirus by touching the surfaces.

L6

Distributing the participants in rooms of up to 3 people ensuring at least 1m distance between the beds.

Crowded spaces might increase the risks of coronavirus contamination.

L7

Preferring venues that provide private toilets. Whenever this is not possible, the organizers should propose an additional set of prevention measures connected with the common use of the toilets.

Recent studies show how coronavirus can be spread through the use of common toilets.