Covid in your campervan!
Can you self-isolate in your motorhome or campervan if you test positive for covid?
How does someone who lives in a van manage if they have coronavirus?
Coronavirus caught up with us!
We thought we had escaped this virus! However, a “head cold” soon morphed into something altogether different. Feeling tired, achey and “dreamy”, we did not feel like doing much, but wondered about taking the motorhome out.
We would be in total isolation. We could enjoy some fresh air, park up and enjoy a van-cooked meal, use our own facilities.
What harm could we do?
Should you drive your motorhome or campervan when you have covid?
On consideration, we stayed in the static house. Why?
Our vehicle is not on our driveway. Having it that close would have been perfect for a socially distanced drive-way get-away. Or for an infected person to isolate from the rest of the family. Staying in a campervan is a wonderful place to sit out covid. However, ours is stored a few miles away.
To get to the motorhome meant entering the storage yard. OK, it is outside, and we need not speak to anyone, but there are locks and gates to open.
Then we may need diesel or a parking ticket– again, although it is all outside, there is the danger of passing the virus on.
Supposing we needed attention from a recovery vehicle or ambulance. Covid made us feel mildly intoxicated, making an accident more likely. Not the ideal state to drive in!
And to make the final decision, we were avoiding contact with our own families, so why risk passing it on to anyone else? It would not be fair!
Giving it to the next person to use the storage yard or diesel pump puts them and their vulnerable contacts at risk. Giving it to a keyworker leaves others short of help.
Our decision was made! We stayed at home, watched TV, and ordered shopping via a supermarket delivery.
BUT supposing we had made the leap we often discuss and were living in the van?
What happens if you live in your campervan and you get covid?
Infected people are expected to leave campsites. But to go where? Parking up is usually fine for the night. But if you stay longer, you may be reported by someone living locally.
An explanation to the police may grant a stay of eviction if you are not causing a nuisance.
But how do you get food and water? You cannot ask for a supermarket delivery to a lay by or side road. And it is irresponsible to go into a shop if you know you’re infectious. It is equally irresponsible to become sicker due to dehydration.
And supposing you become very ill with it! Having a charged phone and knowing where you are is vital if you are to guide emergency services to your location!
If you live in your van, consider an emergency supply box with long life foods and drinks in – a couple of tins and cartons.
If you are in a van life community, alert others around you and self-isolate.
Covid was an emotional illness too!
We found that the virus affected us emotionally too! We felt “on edge” and easily annoyed, more anxious than usual. If you have similar emotional issues, either with or without coronavirus, read our “Van Life Health and Wellbeing” suite.
Lockdown may have hit you in ways you cannot explain. Being forced to remain in one place left many people struggling emotionally. Being isolated is a blessing for many of us – but being forcibly isolated for months on end morphs into loneliness. Missing family, particularly youngsters, was difficult for Hobo Trudi.
RELATED CONTENT: Van Life During Lockdown; how to stay sane when you cannot travel.
What should a van-lifer do if they get coronavirus?
- Have an emergency supply of water, long-life food and paracetamol plus a toilet roll
- Leave a notice on the windscreen stating that you are unwell
- Ask on that note if anyone would be kind enough to leave sustenance for you
- Notify friends or family so that they can check in on you via phone or a welfare visit
- Conserve the phone battery by switching it on at an agreed time each day
- Don’t allow yourself to become too cold or too hot – self-care is vital
- Be aware of your exact location in case you need emergency assistance
If you live with others in the same vehicle, it is most likely that they have caught the virus too as a campervan is a very confined space. However, if it is possible for them to isolate away from you then that would be prudent. Either the infected person leaves the van or everyone else does.
If you have no choice but to remain in the same space, try to wear masks and ventilate the vehicle. As each individual develops symptoms, another should be getting over the worst. If you have tests, anyone testing negative could obtain a month’s supplies before hunkering down.
And hopefully in a week, you’ll be fighting fit again.
Have you had covid whilst away in your campervan? How did you manage it? Let us know in the comments below!
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