Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To make him cancel the trip? WWYD?

55 replies

Doubleyouexwhyandzed · 30/01/2020 10:02

We are supposed to be flying to Germany tomorrow for a huge international show. Lots of Chinese exhibitors.
My husband is immune suppressed following transplant.
Coronavirus has me spooked and I think we should cut our losses and cancel even though it’s all non refundable and £1k down the drain. DH thinks I’m being OTT and is willing to consider not going to the show but taking a short break there instead. I’m still uncomfortable about the large amount of people from potentially affected areas staying at our hotel/in the city.
So... wwyd?
YABU - go
YANBU- cancel

OP posts:

eenymeenyminyme · 30/01/2020 12:27

If he's immunosuppressed I really wouldn't think it's worth the risk, especially with people travelling from China to the same show.

peanutbuttermarmite · 30/01/2020 12:28

I wouldn't go in your circumstances. I'd talk to travel insurance re getting the money back but in any case I wouldn't go.

StompingHoof · 30/01/2020 12:29

OP My husband has had a transplant too, so I understand fully your concerns regarding travel. How long ago was his transplant? If within the last year or two then I'd be wary of all travel, but after that - the world is your oyster.

To the poster who was surprised about having travel insurance? Of course transplant patients can get travel insurance , it's not going to be cheap as some would be, but it's definitely available. My husband's heart transplant was over 15 years ago and we have gone on many trips abroad, our next one we have planned for Feb half term next week travelling through a busy London airport, so being immunosuppressed wouldn't concern me about travel as a whole.

However, heading to Germany where there is a large contingent of Chinese people who have recently travelled in? No I wouldn't. I'd lose the deposits and costs and wouldn't travel there. I don't say this lightly, I'm quite a laid back individual and my husband is very particular but even he wouldn't go.

Certainly check with the hospital clinic who would be able to advise, but I would very surprised if they advised travel.

ArkAtEee · 30/01/2020 12:32

Medical immunosuppression tends to be long-term as well. Hard to avoid public transport and plane travel 'forever'.

LetterOfTheLawFella · 30/01/2020 12:34

I'm not sure any Chinese people will be there as they are not being allowed to leave the country. If they have recently travelled to Germany then it is likely they will not be allowed to attend anyway. Perhaps contact the organisers.

SissySpacekAteMyHamster · 30/01/2020 12:41

My husband is immunosuppressed for different reasons, and I wouldn't be going.

I know you cant avoid things forever, but if you actually know of a risk, then you can make a decision.

I would contact the organisers and see what they say re exhibitors coming from China and any precautions taken.

T0tallyFuckedUpFamily · 30/01/2020 12:48

I don’t blame you for being concerned, OP. Personally, I wouldn’t dream of going, considering what’s going on. Would you be able to get him to ask his specialist for advice. He can contact the secretary and ask him/her to ask on his behalf, if the specialist is too busy to speak directly to him.

Karenisbaren · 30/01/2020 12:49

I would cancel.

SaphfireRose · 30/01/2020 12:51

Does he have travel medical insurance? If so, they may void it for this and he could be in a world of financial trouble if sick overseas. I wouldn't go even if I wasn't immune suppressed. It imo is too dangerous to travel at the moment - anywhere - unless absolutely urgent. I would definitely cancel, and I would definitely call the company handling his travel insurance for further information.

SnoozyLou · 30/01/2020 12:55

Being immunosuppressed doesn't mean you are at imminent risk of dropping dead all the time,

Yes, I'm sure most people are fit as a fiddle following a transplant.

SnoozyLou · 30/01/2020 12:59

@StompingHoof There's a big difference between 15 years and 6 months ago though.

StompingHoof · 30/01/2020 13:03

SnoozyLou, of course there is and I acknowledged this in my reply. So why point that out?

DustinTheresAHoleInYourSuit · 30/01/2020 13:06

I think that's only true of the ones in Wuhan. Other flights from China are still happening as normal, despite the fact that coronavirus is all over China now.

I wouldn't go.

I'm desperately hoping the organisers cancel the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as my dp is supposed to be going. It seems insane to be having these events right now that mix people from so many different places including China, just when we're trying to slow down transmission of an unknown new virus.

It would be different if things with the virus seemed stable, if there'd been a steady low rate of infections jogging along for months. But that's not the stage we're at - it's growing fast at the moment.

SnoozyLou · 30/01/2020 13:12

@StompingHoof Because if it was recent, as several of us have said, he's unlikely to find someone willing to cover him, and although EC111s still cover you for treatment in Europe, I believe, you're potentially leaving yourself open to massive repatriation fees if he did get ill abroad, not to mention the fact that OP's top priority will be him not getting sick at all. A crowded plane and a trade fair does not seem like the place to be, though as you say, it depends how long ago it was.

GabsAlot · 30/01/2020 13:12

Planes are notorious for germs and spreading i wouldnt get on a plane right now and im fine

StompingHoof · 30/01/2020 13:18

Ah I see, yes going point re insurance cover.
We did find the longer the transplant period the cheaper (albeit not much!) the insurance.
Going off on a tangent here but 10yr old DD is desperate to visit the USA, but insurance for a trip there is eye watering and I won't pay it. So Canada instead and we can wave at the country border.

StompingHoof · 30/01/2020 13:18

*good not going!

saraclara · 30/01/2020 13:18

I don't think anyone from the area will be there. It's been closed down now for some time.

The plane from UK to Germany will be no more a risk than it was before the virus.

SnoozyLou · 30/01/2020 13:26

@StompingHoof It does seem very unfair there isn't some sort of cut off point or you can't get a certificate from the doctor.

PlanDeRaccordement · 30/01/2020 13:30

I’d go. It’s not the Black Death. Of the thousands who get it, most recover just fine. Only 3% of those requiring hospitalisation die. The risk is very low.
It’s not in China but Germany. So it’s no more risk than spending a day at Cambridge University with all their Chinese students. (It’s kind of racist to be afraid of an ethnicity btw)
China won’t send exhibitors coming from quarantined areas...in fact many of the Chinese exhibitors probably live in Germany as expats representing their companies or agencies.

TeaForTara · 30/01/2020 13:31

If it wasn't for his immuno-suppressed condition then I'd say YABU but, in the circumstances, I would definitely cancel and not travel at all. Don't fall for the sunk costs fallacy.

Beautiful3 · 30/01/2020 13:40

You're going to Germany though? I would still go.

Yeahnah2020 · 30/01/2020 14:29

I’d go but he’d need tI wear a mask and sanitise his hands constantly . Otherwise, not a chance in hell.

ofwarren · 30/01/2020 14:42

I personally wouldnt go. As for people saying about travel insurance for transplant patients, my son has a liver transplant and his insurance for 2 weeks in Corfu, with a specialist travel insurance firm was only £58. That was as insured as he could be, telling them absolutely everything.
You aren't restricted for travel because you have a transplant ffs.

Jaxhog · 30/01/2020 14:54

You need to ask his consultant. That's a serious risk even without the coronavirus.

Flip

1 2 3