[aktualizacja] Coronavirus – should I go on vacation?

Coronavirus, Wuhan virus - should I go on vacation?

The coronavirus and Wuhan virus are hair-raising for everyone, and even more so for those planning to travel in the near future. Previously, only Asia was mentioned, but the last few days show that the virus in a larger release has also appeared in Europe, in Italy. Increasingly ask us through various channels the question: should we go on vacation or give up?

It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, but we will try in this post to outline exactly our position, and perhaps it will help you with your doubts about whether to go or not to go on vacation…. Whether to Asia, America or even Europe.

The Wuhan virus probably needs no introduction to you. The first major news on the subject appeared in early January. Even then, a warning light came on for us. For two reasons. First, we had a trip to America planned for the end of January. Secondly, we recently (early November) finished our tour of China ourselves, where we traveled through the provinces that currently have the highest concentration of coronavirus infections. More specifically, the virus attacked in late November in Wuhan, less than a month after our stay. It was close.

Fortunately, here we were very lucky. However, by the time we left for Florida, we were already thinking more about whether we would go to China now (flights to China had not yet been canceled). We concluded that with children definitely not, alone maybe. However, ahead of us was a trip to the US. Here we monitored the situation strongly, coronavirus (named 2019-nCoV, and the disease entity is COVID-19) was in the US, but not in Florida, and only isolated cases were found there. So the decision was that we go without any fear. The only fear was what we would find after two weeks, if only in Europe.

This text was originally published on February 26, 2020. It was updated with a new paragraph with the latest information on March 9 and then March 12, 2020 (you can find it at the end of the text).

Table of contents

What to pay attention to when traveling (e.g., by plane)?

What we only paid attention to during the trip was the basics of hygiene. We washed our hands often, used antibacterial gels, and avoided larger gatherings of people. On the plane trip itself, on the other hand, we were very attentive to children not to shove their hands into every nook and cranny of the plane, not to put their fingers in their mouths, not to rub their eyes with dirty hands, etc….

It is well known how airplanes are cleaned and that such nooks and crannies are a breeding ground for bacteria, and through the mouth, nose and eyes germs get in most easily. No, we didn’t use face masks, although we did bring one with us.

Is it worth wearing protective masks?

And here another question arises, whether it is worth wearing face masks, the most popular surgical ones. There are no conclusive studies saying that surgical masks do or do not protect against the virus whether it is the ordinary flu or the Wuchan coronavirus, Besides, nowadays masks are hard to come by, and if you can buy them somewhere they cost up to 10 times more than before.

It is more important that the sick person wears a mask to reduce the spread of germs by the person himself. This is what even the WHO recommends ^[source]., that masks should be used precisely by people who are sick or have direct contact with sick people. Therefore, we with us had masks, but we did not use them so as not to waste them unnecessarily.

However, get yourself such a mask for testing even at home. In this way you will see how often you touch your mouth, nose and eyes with your hands. And this is the easiest way for viruses. So if a healthy person is already to wear a mask, it is to protect himself from himself. So just take care of your hygiene and don’t lick your fingers every now and then ;-)

Go on vacation or cancel it due to coronavirus?

Well, that’s the end of the reminiscences. And let’s specifically answer the question of whether to go or not?

There is no simple answer. However, we will remind you of our other entry
Where will the next terrorist attack be?
, in which we emphasized then and will emphasize to you now that if you have to go somewhere and stress the whole trip, it is worth letting such a trip go.

What we can certainly recommend to you is to keep monitoring the situation, check the news from verified sources and don’t panic.

Influenza virus vs Wuhan virus

Wuhan virus according to information at the time of this writing has killed more than 2,700 people (as of November 2019) a year, and has sickened more than 80,000 people worldwide ^[source].. While more than 2,500,000 people have contracted the influenza virus or similar in Poland alone this season (as of October 1, 2019), of which more than 10,000 have been referred to hospitals and 28 people have died from it ^[source].

Of course, normal flu is studied, we know a lot about it, there are vaccines, and there are still many unknowns about the Wuhan virus. That is why it inspires such fear.

It is worth adding here that a flu patient is infected for about 3-5 days, while the Wuhan virus can be infected for 14 more days (state of the art) ^[source]..

Why are we writing about it? Because it is not only coronavirus that is dangerous, there are many other viruses that we can get infected with without even moving from our village, but proper hygiene is always the basis.

Interactive map of the Wuhan coronavirus

We certainly recommend you to keep an eye on this map – link. Here all the information from around the world on the number of infected, Wuhan virus is collected. Statistics are also provided on how many people have died and recovered.

This is a major source of information for us on the current global situation regarding the spread of the Wuhan virus. We look at it every day, not only when planning our future voyages….

You can also see an interesting and continuously updated summary at www.worldometers.info/coronaviru/.

WHO and GIS announcements

We also recommend you to follow the announcements of the General Sanitary Inspector. Now, the latest travel advisory (No. 31) dated February 24, 2020. (Compiled from ECDC and WHO data) recommends, for example, not to travel to China and South Korea, Italy (especially the Lombardy region, Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Lazio), Iran, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan ^[source]..

And we personally would listen to this message. Perhaps with Japan and Singapore we would have thought a little big, because of the quality of health care on the ground, but fortunately, at the moment we have not purchased tickets and do not plan to go to these countries.

These announcements are posted at the bottom of the gis.gov.pl homepage.

Potential risks

In truth, in addition to possible illness during the trip, other difficulties must be expected. E.g., aircraft flights may be halted, just as airlines have halted flights to China. We can also be stuck, for example, on a cruise ship to quarantine off the coast of Japan for two weeks ^[source] Or in a hotel in Tenerife ^[source.].

We may also be stuck even in Italy, as now some regions of northern Italy have also been cut off from the world ^[source].

This is also a very important aspect that you need to take into account when you are considering whether to leave or not.

Can I cancel my vacation with a travel agency?

This is also something you ask about very often. Can I cancel my vacation purchased with a travel agency because of coronavirus? And yes and no :) It’s worth inquiring with the seller, but at the moment the situation is that if you had a trip purchased to China then you can probably cancel it free of charge.

If you have a tour/holiday purchased in any other region of the world, unfortunately, you have to expect cancellation costs (which are usually a few percent of the total amount). Unless you had special rebooking insurance, in which case you may be able to change the date or even the country of your trip.

If you are facing the dilemma of buying such a vacation right now, take strong consideration of buying such an additional option, that is, the ability to rebook at no cost. You will book the best hotels now (because last-minute lasts remain), and you will be calm about the possible. No-cost changes to your reservation, for example, to a different date or country of stay.

We, when buying hotels on Booking.com, always just choose options with free cancellation even up to the day of arrival. It usually costs a little more, but we have peace of mind in case of various emergencies. With airline tickets is no longer always so rosy, and often you would have to pay a lot extra to have the possibility of free cancellation, so here we usually count with such a risk :)

How do others travel?

Also, among many of our acquaintances, both travel bloggers and those who don’t blog, we have plenty of cases of people who are traveling in Asia, for example, despite the current situation, but we also know people who have canceled their trips, even to regions where there isn’t much disease at the moment.

Remember, however, that it all depends. Where are you going, with whom, to what region, for how much, what kind of experience you have, and so on. The most important thing, however, is how you will feel about your decision. Because if you have to go even to our neighbors and every now and then fear contagion anywhere, it is better to cancel the trip and wait quietly for better times :)

Updated March 9, 2020:

According to the WHO representative in Poland, Dr. Paloma Cuchi in an article dated March 6, 2020:“WHO does not recommend abandoning air travel or trade. We have seen in the past that similar measures are ineffective. Therefore, we have no reason to believe that this time would be different. There are some exceptions when possible travel should be discussed with a doctor, such as before traveling to northern Italy or Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic. This is especially true for chronically ill people. The most important thing is to remember to wash your hands and to maintain an appropriate distance when interacting with other people, which is about 1-2 meters and can be determined by the length of an upright arm.”
^[source].

You often ask questions, however, are there opportunities to cancel trips with a travel agency free of charge due to circumstances? Unfortunately, this is not a simple and clear-cut matter. Generally, we can find on the website of the Ministry of Development that “The traveler, on the other hand, may not withdraw from the contract for participation in a tourist event at no cost solely due to cases of coronavirus infection found in the place where he was going.” The point is that to Italy at the moment, of course, we can apply for a refund, but if our trip is scheduled for August to Italy or even now to Bali then there is currently no clear indication that we will receive such a refund. More info here.

This is also confirmed by the Polish Chamber of Tourism. In its document “PIT’s Position on Article 47(4) of the Law on Tourist Events and Related Travel Services,” dated March 5, 2020, it states that: “Art. 47 para. 4 will not apply (it will not be able to provide grounds for the traveler to withdraw from the contract), if, for example. NNO (unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances – author’s note) will admittedly occur in the country where the event is held, but will not affect the implementation of the event due to, for example, the distance between the venue of the speech and the hotel, and due to the stationary nature of the event, which does not include excursions.” and: “In the case of cancellation by the traveler of the event well in advance (e.g., March 2020) relative to its start date specified in the event contract (e.g., July 2020) – when at the time of cancellation nothing certain can be said about the occurrence of NNO at the destination or in its immediate vicinity, i.e., where the event is to take place, the provision of Art. 47 para. 4 should not constitute a legal basis for cancelling the event and withdrawing from the contract.”

According to the latest GIS message to travelers dated March 9, 2020: “Based on risk assessment data developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), from the perspective of epidemiological risk, The Chief Sanitary Inspector does not recommend travel to China and South Korea, Italy, Iran, France (the department of Oise in the Hauts-de-France Region, the Ile-de France Region, the department of Upper Savoy in the Auvergne-Rhodan-Alpes Region, the department of Morbihan in the Brittany Region), Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Japan.” and “For people outside Poland, in countries affected by local transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus We recommend taking special precautions and avoiding large concentrations of people.” ^[source].

Updated March 12, 2020:

The situation is changing very dynamically and we want to inform you about it.

When we wrote this text at the end of February we were almost convinced that we would fly to Dubai. However, yesterday (11.03.2020) it was announced that schools, kindergartens, cinemas, theaters were closed in Poland, and the day before all mass events were canceled. Among others. Therefore, we have decided not to fly, and we are postponing our trip probably to the autumn. You can read more about why we made this decision on our Instagram, here.

Nevertheless, there is still no new announcement for travelers on the GIS website, but the Minister of Health has issued the following message: “An appeal to all those who will not be going to school or college for the next few days. This is not a time of leisure. This is a time of quarantine for our society. This is the time we should spend at home so as not to infect others.”
^[source]
. Therefore, if your trip is in the coming days, we recommend staying home. If you are taking off in May and beyond, wait, perhaps the situation can be brought under control by then.

NOTE! It was also announced that the US has just blocked ALL flights from EUROPE for 30 days. For 30 days from now we can’t fly into the United States!
^[source]
.

Updated March 13, 2020:

Today, everything has become clear. Poland is closing its borders. Travel agencies are canceling upcoming tours and pulling Poles to Poland.

Remember, if you went with a travel agency, you don’t have to worry. The travel agency will take care of you.

If you flew on your own and won’t be able to make it back before Sunday (all international flights are banned from next Sunday for a minimum of 10 days), try to get in by car (beware of border closures in Slovakia and the Czech Republic this weekend) or contact the nearest Polish embassy or the Foreign Ministry directly.

Remember to:
– Stay at home if you can,
– avoid clusters of people, meetings with friends too,
– if you already go to the store to buy, keep a safe distance from other people (minimum 1 meter, preferably 2 meters),
– also help the elderly or those in high-risk groups by shopping for them.

We are keeping our fingers crossed for everyone returning to the country!

Summary

How do we plan our trips now? We have an upcoming trip planned just to the east, to a place where several cases of Wuhan virus have been found. At the moment we have the green light, but the situation is dynamic and we are watching it. Remember, too, that the picture is also being scratched by the media, which are eager for shocking information. So it’s worth approaching all this information calmly.

And in truth, such a decision must be made by each individual. However, let’s not sow panic, let’s read the announcements and observe the situation. Today the virus is in Italy, and tomorrow it could be in Poland. So why not cancel the vacation after all and go somewhere as far away from Poland as possible? :)

If you have any more questions, please write boldly in the comments. We will try to answer them all.

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