Sensible opinions please! (Sorry another Coronavirus one)

[TravelBump]

So much scaremongering going on alongside some sensible cautionary advice. With the greatest of respect, if you are a prepper, or someone who is particularly hyper-anxious about things, please don't post. Each to their own and all that but I am looking for a broad view from the balanced and sensible majority (I will probably get flamed for suggesting preppers aren't sensible but hey).

Am I BU to think that as long as sensible precautions are taken it is okay for a pregnant women to book a holiday for mid March?? (2nd trimester) Certain sensible precautions must be:
Obviously not travelling to areas the UK gov are advising not to travel to (China, Korea, Italy etc).
Obviously:

• having good expensive insurance policy
• choosing a less crowded area to holiday in
• avoiding Corona hotspots (as well as Zika)
• adhering to NHS / Gov advice on handwashing, hand gel, not touching face and eyes etc
• avoiding sitting in close proximity to people sneezing / coughing where possible
• checking FO travel advice updates regularly
• ensuring holiday is refundable just in case advice changes

According to the advice, airplane air is less dangerous than air on a bus or tube train because it is filtered. Viruses and bacteria are filtered out and the air is mixed with fresh air every 2 mins. The main way you catch a virus is by being in close proximity to someone who is ill and droplets getting into your system through unprotected coughing, sneezing and touching of fluids.

So, sensible people, I am interested in the general consensus here. For context, I should add that this will be a long-awaited and yearned for holiday after a very difficult year or so, and due to husband's annual leave logistics it will be the last opportunity for at least the rest of this year. However, I don't want to go if it really is stupid to consider it.

AIBU?
YABU - Do not consider a holiday
YANBU - Book the holiday following sensible precautions

Self, why not hold off a couple of months and see how things are nearer the time?

I wouldn’t book a holiday when pregnant. No. France and Germany have both announced they can no longer keep the spread of the virus under control. Why would you go away and risk your health or the life of others on your return?

Agreed pickle. There seem to be two camps wrt Coronavirus. Those who are just worried about getting it themselves and those who are worried about spreading it to others. Unfortunately there are too many of the former and not enough of the latter which is why we'll never get control of it.

I would go, you understand what precautions to take and as @Rachael1994 said there is far too much scaremongering.

Yes you could be quarantined but that could happen at home, especially as a regular tube user.

Self - I would also wait to book. Think there will be no problem with availability

I personally wouldn't, not because of worry about catching the illness but because of my fear of being trapped away from home quarantined somewhere... I would absolutely hate the idea of this even with the illness taken out of the equation entirely. I love my holidays but am always v keen to get home. If you are more relaxed about that prospect, and book the type of holiday you could cancel at short notice (e.g. hotel that will let you cancel with no charge) then it might be worth doing.

@MrsStrangerThing and @Strictlybakeoff I wanted one hotel that I know can accommodate allergies well and I particular room type to try and avoid the baby waking the 3 year old.

I wouldn’t, I would book a luxury UK break.
I’m booked to go to Gran Canaria at Easter though but booked it ages ago. We will decide if we’re going much nearer the time!

As others have said, the situation is changing so quickly that an area that is corona free now might not be in 2-3 weeks.

For that reason I wouldn't risk booking anything for fear of getting stuck somewhere as well as any potential risk.

I guess you could see where we are in 2 weeks and book something very last minute but even that is risky as the situation could change while you're on the holiday.

Is anyone else getting THIS... ?

Thanks for voting!
We'll send you an email in the next 24 hours with the final verdict..

when voting. ??

(Misses point of thread............)

Enjoy your holiday x

@IrmaFayLear

The OP did post this yesterday (I'm spending too much time on MN!). Why are you asking if you are determined to go? I think people are right to urge caution. These are not normal circumstances. You just don't know where it's going to strike and, even if you are confident you won't get it, you can't control what measures may be put in place to stop the spread, ie prevention of your return to UK from wherever you are.

This. ^

If you do go, you definitely need to check that the travel insurance will cover the cost of any medical treatment you need if you do catch coronavirus. The difference between catching it abroad and catching it here are that the NHS will pay for any treatment you need here. Your insurance company might not.

We are always last minute booking holidays. I am looking to go ski-ing at the end of March but won't be booking yet. If I had it booked I would be going.

If I were you I would not book it - why would you risk being pregnant and stuck somewhere. Wait and see what happens and then book last minute if it all seems ok.

As above you need to go through any travel insurance with a fine tooth comb.

I'm getting married abroad in June. I've looked at my insurance today and it doesn't cover me if the foreign office advice against travel and it doesn't cover for fear of pandemic. It will cover me if I can't go because I fall ill and I am covered if I fall ill while abroad. I doubt they will cover me if I'm quarantined abroad.

Just make sure you get decent cover.

Go somewhere in the UK, LOL

Brighton , Buxton & York are nice.

Not sure I have ever been described as sensible but I'm quite level headed about the coronavirus, I am not overly concerned and I'm also heavily pregnant (8months)

I personally would not be booking a holiday for mid march. This is mainly because i know I would either a) end up losing the money by them declaring it a no fly zone before I went or b) end up getting stuck in a quarantined hotel for weeks on end, entertaining the british public on the BBC with the latest 'news'.

Personally it is not worth the risk of losing the money more than anything but if you do go, I hope yoi have an amazing time :)

In live in Italy and wouldn't even advise not to come here. The healthcare system are being super duper cautious and vigilant here. They have swabbed so many people and today are finding out many were false positives. I'm in one of the regions hit with schools closed but I'm not at all worried because I honestly believe the rest of Europe has it to the same extent, it's just here they are being more honest and more vigilant with testing!! The rest of Europe are keeping away from all the swabbing because it will hurt the stock market is my guess! My main concern is if they started cancelling flights etc, not the virus per se.

I would not book somewhere far, not because of worries about the virus but because I don’t want to risk getting quarantined. Also triple check insurance before you buy it.

I actually stopped travelling while pregnant since dc1 pregnancy. Have you suffered from strong cravings for random food from random restaurants? That was me then and I promised myself no more holidays during pregnancy as I can’t afford to travel just for a meal abroad. I don’t want to feel like that again so I’m doing self imposed travel ban.

If you do go enjoy your trip.

Wouldn't it make more sense to take medical advice, rather than decide based on an electronic poll of random unqualified strangers on the internet?

Yeah, I checked with the GP today, and they said to check the FO office advice, don't travel anywhere on the no-go list and take precautions. Then told me to enjoy my holiday!

I think planning to go somewhere not on the "no-go list" is a bit illogical though, as Italy wasn't on the no-go list a week ago. Do you feel you would cope ok if the place you go to becomes a no-go location while you are there, and a quarantine is put in place?

I don't think you can guarantee you're going somewhere virus free and I think you should consider, and be prepared for the small but real possibility that you may find yourself affected by flight cancellations, or a quarantine situation during, or upon return from your holiday.

There is probably just as much chance of a quarantine situation at home, but I would be significantly less stressed by that than the same thing happening overseas while pregnant.

Yes you could be quarantined but that could happen at home

Absolutely but at least at home you have more than a dull hotel room to entertain yourself in, plus I feel for that woman in Tenerife who’s been in the news today venting her frustration at the other hotel guests in quarantine with her who are paying no attention to infection control advice. It seems like you’d probably lose whatever control you may have over your situation.

Another consideration is work. My job wouldn’t pay me for an extra two weeks quarantined abroad. They’d probably let me use my annual leave allowance but I’d resent using it for that. I’d be conscious of my DP losing two weeks worth of annual leave with a new baby on the horizon too.

Mmmmm tricky. I would worry about being caught in a “hot spot” and being stuck. That would be a pain.

I would book an holiday in UK.

My 1st pregnancy I would not go abroad.

2nd time I did but went somewhere I knew and felt comfortable with.