Maybe because of liability concerns.

I got a trip to Portugal in second half of April.

Europe may be ahead of the US on the outbreak because of that big outbreak in Lombardia but it's inevitable it spreads in the US as well.

US is not routinely testing for it yet. That may be why the numbers reported are low so far.

If you think about it, no reason US would be less vulnerable from the outbreak, given that Americans travel to China more than Europeans probably.

gmoney . If you compare the mortality rate (as opposed to the total deaths), you will find the Corona virus is about 20 times higher than the "regular" 'flu (2% vs 0.10%). Also, less is known about transmission and the period when one is infectious. It appears that you may be infectious well before you show any symptoms.

My boss cancelled an April trip with her two children from L.A. to Boston to visit her parents because the grandparents are afraid of the virus. Their fear is unreasonable. But I could see that if a GP might worry from the moment I said "it will be ok, we are coming anyway" until two or three weeks after returning to L.A. then I would postpone too. Its getting a bit crazy.

And/or maybe due to parent concerns for their kids being overseas and with places now being hit with Wuhan virus that weren't previously being hit.

Happy Travels!

The other factor is that 20% of those infected end up requiring critical care or hospitalization. 5% need ventilator or ICU care.

That would be huge, because no country has enough beds to care for millions of those who would fall under critical care. In fact, in Wuhan, a lot of people were turned away from hospitals and died in their homes.

If it displayed the same infectiousness, same critical care percentage or mortality rate as the flu, people would not be nearly as alarmed.

I agree. I get your meaning.

Another person could point out that the flu virus mutates too and the flu shot is effective for the strains that were expected to circulate and not be fully effective for the strain that might actually go around. And comparison with the flu is silly because the flu causes more sickness and death than the CV.

That is one argument. It leaves off "so far" from the last sentence, tho.

I think that the flu is the poster child for the CV: we don't want it to become half as bad as the flu and it could get worse.

The one thing worse than getting it is getting it and transmitting it.

I'm strongly considering purchasing travel insurance with Cancel for Any Reason coverage.

I don't think insurance with standard trip cancellation would allow you to submit a claim because there may be an outbreak at your destination. They typically spell out things like terrorism, weather disaster and immediate family medical problems.

The CFAR policies aren't cheap, around $400 for a 2-3 week trip which costs $4500. But the CFAR portion is 50-75% of unused products and services which have been prepaid.

NASA and two other agencies I am familiar with are on the verge of canceling all non mission critical air travel.

That will have an impact on our lives.

We have a tentative trip planned with another couple - Japan in spring 2021. Our friends have been to Japan five times, speak Japanese, and enthusiastically invited us to go with them to explore their favorite places. They have already built a detailed itinerary. I received a text from the wife a few days ago - already expressing concern for this trip, because of coronavirus. Of course at this point, we haven't put any money out, so it's all moot. But I was kind of surprised that anyone would be thinking so far ahead.

ADMIN NOTE:

Two duplicate threads from 2 locations (Asia and Lounge) merged and moved to Travel Tips. This is a hot travel topic and should be accessible by all members and in a central location now that it has passed beyond Asia.

Thank you

Since I am both old(er) and immunocompromised, I had put travel for the first part of the year at least on hold. However, I live in the US and I see a disaster about to unfold here. First, we have too many people with no/minimal insurance and/or paid sick leave, and it is not clear who will pay for testing and treatment. Second, the politicians in charge clearly haven't a clue and are mostly concerned with appearances and not useful action. I am beginning to think I should risk the flight and go visit my sisters in England. Although I might have trouble getting medical coverage for the trip.

Edited to add this link, which I had lost, which points up the problems with the US insurance"system": https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-su...c9459eefb.html

<<I am beginning to think I should risk the flight and go visit my sisters in England. Although I might have trouble getting medical coverage for the trip.>>

Thursdays - I am touched that you should consider that the NHS is better organised than the US health service but I would like to think that we will be able to cope, not because of the efforts of our witless government but because despite its best efforts we still have some competent and compassionate people in charge. And no-one will be turned away because they can't pay.

Thursdaysd - if you do make it over to your sisters this year do let me know as we will be back in Henley on Thames several times this year. It would be good to get together. We have been here since returning from Japan in Jan. No sign of corona virus but the has burst its banks for much of the time we have been here. The grounds of that property we discussed off forum, were underwater last week!

Crellston - would love to meet up with you both! However, expect I will just stay put for now...

I had suspicions that that property was a flood risk and had crossed it off for that reason. Thanks for the confirmation.

Ann - any system with universal coverage has to be better prepared than one with uninsured and under-insured people. This is going to be a particular problem with testing, Also, In addition to the poor guy in the link, it turns out that the woman in California wasn't tested because the CDC said she didn't meet their definition of someone needing a test, thus exposing a bunch of people, including health care workers, unnecessarily.

<<Also, In addition to the poor guy in the link, it turns out that the woman in California wasn't tested because the CDC said she didn't meet their definition of someone needing a test, thus exposing a bunch of people, including health care workers, unnecessarily.>>

Yes, I read about that. However our government is not exactly covering itself in glory, with the Cobra committee not meeting until early this week and talk of retired health professionals being brought back to deal with the numbers that may be affected. The main problem however is hospital capacity - unlike some systems which run on 70% capacity, [eg Germany], the UK runs on 100% in the winter which means there is no slack to deal with a public health emergency. But yes, you're probably better off here than there. Just.

I have a trip in May to Germany and I have been trying to cancel my flight that I booked through Orbitz . I can't cancel online. They say there is a technical glitch on their end. And when I try to call you are on hold for a long time. I know I have time to cancel before May but if it continues like this, how are you suppose to cancel a flight? Going I fly Lufthansa and coming back I fly United.

Europe is losing and going to lose a lot of tourism money, even before the drop in the dollar. They may have to do something drastic because as bad as the virus is, a lot of places can't do anything without tourist money.

It's one thing to be out of hospital beds and ICU but hard to fund all the medical work without tourism dollars. Unless the outbreak surges out of control, there will be a lot of pressure to lift the restrictions like the one imposed on Lombardia and Veneto by mid summer.

There are several reasons why the Coronavirus should not be compared to the flu:

• We have a vaccine for the flu; we DO NOT have a vaccine for coronavirus. I for one would certainly feel a lot better if we had a vaccine.
• Coronavirus is new, and we know very little about it. Contrary to what Trump said, no one knows if the coronavirus will start to decline in April. Dr. Jennifer Ashton, on a special Coronavirus Dateline on Friday, when asked why this virus is so scary, said exactly what I told a friend: we don't know enough about it; we haven't gone through a season/cycle of it yet.
• It is spreading rapidly; 1000 new cases in a 24-hour period in Italy. We heard the director of the nursing home in Kirkland, WA say today that a few patients had no symptoms, and then in one hour symptoms were so severe they had to be rushed to the hospital.
• We don't have enough test kits. Director of same nursing home in Kirkland yesterday said they cannot test their own staff because they don't have enough test kits. We are the richest nation on this planet, and we don't have enough test kits? That's a disgrace.

[QUOTE=KarenWoo;17075976]There are several reasons why the Coronavirus should not be compared to the flu:

• We have a vaccine for the flu; we DO NOT have a vaccine for coronavirus. I for one would certainly feel a lot better if we had a vaccine.
• Coronavirus is new, and we know very little about it. Contrary to what Trump said, no one knows if the coronavirus will start to decline in April. Dr. Jennifer Ashton, on a special Coronavirus Dateline on Friday, when asked why this virus is so scary, said exactly what I told a friend: we don't know enough about it; we haven't gone through a season/cycle of it yet.
• It is spreading rapidly; 1000 new cases in a 24-hour period in Italy. We heard the director of the nursing home in Kirkland, WA say today that a few patients had no symptoms, and then in one hour symptoms were so severe they had to be rushed to the hospital.
• We don't have enough test kits. Director of same nursing home in Kirkland yesterday said they cannot test their own staff because they don't have enough test kits. We are the richest nation on this planet, and we don't have enough test kits? That's a disgrace.

Thank you, Karen Woo.
This needs repeating. And emphasizing.

There are several reasons why the Coronavirus should not be compared to the flu:

• We have a vaccine for the flu; we DO NOT have a vaccine for coronavirus. I for one would certainly feel a lot better if we had a vaccine.
• Coronavirus is new, and we know very little about it. Contrary to what Trump said, no one knows if the coronavirus will start to decline in April. Dr. Jennifer Ashton, on a special Coronavirus Dateline on Friday, when asked why this virus is so scary, said exactly what I told a friend: we don't know enough about it; we haven't gone through a season/cycle of it yet.
• It is spreading rapidly; 1000 new cases in a 24-hour period in Italy. We heard the director of the nursing home in Kirkland, WA say today that a few patients had no symptoms, and then in one hour symptoms were so severe they had to be rushed to the hospital.
• We don't have enough test kits. Director of same nursing home in Kirkland yesterday said they cannot test their own staff because they don't have enough test kits. We are the richest nation on this planet, and we don't have enough test kits? That's a disgrace.