AIBU to cancel holiday?

[Nostrings457]

Booked to go to Malta in May - holiday balance is due tomorrow (over 6k). Travelling with young children and 1 aduly is aged 65+

Malta has no coronavirus cases currently but who knows what will happen between now and May. I dont want to pay the balance and then risk trying to claim off insurance if we dont go.

I suppose its more a what would you do than aibu?

(I know the risk is so low, influenza kills more people etc.. but i dont want to end up in quarantine with 3 young kids somewhere either)

Yep, millions of Chinese suffering from mass hysteria right now.

The Chinese have it under control.

It is still not right to expect everyone to self isolate and not go anywhere by saying 'team society or team virus'. That is just divisive.

From the WHO report:

"Achieving China''s exceptional coverage with and adherence to these containment measures has only been possible due to the deep commitment of the Chinese people to collective action in the face of this common threat."

"At the individual level, the Chinese people have reacted to this outbreak with courage and conviction. They have accepted and adhered to the starkest of containment measures - whether the suspension of public gatherings, the month-long "stay at home" advisories or prohibitions on travel."

That damned hysterical World Health Organisation, eh?

Link to the WHO report:

www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf

I heard on a advise show that if a holiday is abta atol protected that is the best senerio for getting money back.

Independent holidays are unlikely to get a claim though insurance.

We rarely go with a tour operator but in this case we go to Malta also in may as a package. So I'm still planning on going unless I'm told otherwise.

We can back from Italy sking in feb and we are all fine.

Ok, I'll bite.

If the WHO or the NHS or the FCO tell me not to travel, I will abide by that. I will adhere to containment measures if I am told to, but being guilted into not taking a holiday by someone on t'internet is one step too far, and labelling those that do travel as 'team virus' is pathetic.

Hopefully by May the virus will settle down, we have just cancelled our trip, we where due to go to Spain in a few days, I have an autoimmune condition so even remote risk isn’t worth it. We have lost money for our flights etc and other bits and bobs as our choice to cancel, but in our circumstances we have made the right decision. Good luck OP.

It's not the job of the WHO to tell you not to travel. They do not have that authority. That is the job of our government.

Meanwhile, BoJos response is to get volunteers from the most vulnerable section of society to man our health service. Oh, and if a teacher goes off sick with Covid, put their exposed students into the class next door.

Compare this with building two hospitals in six days.

Nitpick my post, I was generalising and I do know that. And I will listen to any advice or recommendations by whoever, does that suit you?

As it is, I am excited by my holiday and can't wait to go.

Op I wouldn't go, and it's airports, mixing travelling, the plane, where its been, the crew, the people handing food and drinks.

I think sadly many holiday prices will be greatly reduced soon anyway.
I wouldn't want to risk quarantine, being ill away from home, the over 65 in the group.
In a few months we will know far better what's going on.

We are agreed on one thing, BoJo is pathetic.

Nellodee.

Do you think Boris all by himself has drawn up and implemented this response?

What would corybn have done?
Or perhaps there is a general plan in place drawn up by numerous people over many years from many different departments?

What we expect this gov to do is adapt that existing plan which has nothing to do with Boris, to the present circs.

Boris isn't the government and the government did not create this existing plan.

It's an on going working document. What I want to see now is proper flexibilities to react to what we are dealing with now.

And this is informative from Twitter...

'For the non Science people out there...Wonder why everyone is emphasizing hand washing? Sounds banal, but soap really IS an amazing weapon that we all have in our homes. This is because coronavirus is an "enveloped" virus, which means that it has an outer lipid membrane layer.
Basically, it's surrounded by a fat layer. Washing your hands with soap and water has the ability to "dissolve" this greasy fatty layer and kill the virus. I'm told singing "Happy Birthday" twice is approximately how long we should all be scrubbing our hands with soap.'

Who ultimately decides on the NHS and travel guidelines? That's a genuine question, not goady, I promise. Do they have the authority to make recommendations, or do they have to go through government bodies first?

Rousette, do you disagree with my contention that the more mobile we are as a population, the faster the virus will spread?

And what do you suggest? Not travel anywhere? Not work? Self isolate? I've just got back from Espana and shock horror I am not passing anything on to anyone.

I would love to know from you what people are supposed to do? I know someone who is due to travel on business to Dublin, should he not go? It's a really important meeting, bit of a make or break for his business. I just hate blanket statements like your last one. Life carries on.

And by the way, the WHO says a travel ban can hinder more than it helps.

Here you go...
'The World Health Organization, which declared the outbreak a global health emergency this week, has recommended against any travel or trade restrictions in response to the outbreak.

“Although travel restrictions may intuitively seem like the right thing to do, this is not something that WHO usually recommends,” said Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesperson. “This is because of the social disruption they cause and the intensive use of resources required,” he added.

Experts said travel bans could lead to a slew of downstream effects and risk complicating the public health response.

“There’s not only the financial toll on a country that is dealing with this outbreak, but this can discourage transparency, both in this outbreak and in the future,” Worsnop said.

Travel and trade restrictions can lead to dire economic consequences for countries involved, creating a disincentive for them to quickly disclose potential outbreaks to the WHO or other nations. They can hinder the sharing of information, make it harder to track cases and their contacts, and disrupt the medical supply chain, potentially fueling shortages of drugs and medical supplies in the areas hit hardest by the outbreak.

Any effort and money spent crafting and enforcing travel and trade restrictions also take away already-stretched resources from public health measures that have been proven to be far more effective, experts said. Those measures include providing assistance to countries with weaker health systems, accelerating the development of a vaccine or rapid diagnostic test, and clearly communicating with the public about when and how to seek care.'

At this point, I would be avoiding crowds for leisure purposes, but not work. So, not going to the cinema, or concerts, or football matches. In the next week or so, I would go to weddings, etc. I might even go on holiday, depending on the destination, as we are still in early stages. I'm very undecided on that one (as are a lot of people, judging by the response to this thread). Over the next week or so, I would be expecting that indecision to tip into a definite refusal to travel for holidays. I definitely wouldn't be booking holidays, and I wouldn't be planning a big party.

Regarding work, I'd be looking at working from home if I could. But if I had to use crowded public transport to get to work, and I had to pay the bills, I'd do it, and not think twice. My job is very high exposure, I would say and I have no plans to decide not to work unless I am told not to. I'm not concerned for my personal safety and very reassured that my children are likely to be fine. However, my parents are retired, and I won't be visiting them at all as soon as there is a case in my local area.

What the WHO is saying is that when we have travel bans, it prevents aid from getting to needy countries. They're not saying that someone not going on an all-inclusive is going to be a problem.

I've said all I'm going to say on it. We all have different views.

Though, I do agree with the WHO that the economic ramifications of disruption to the tourist trade are going to be horrific for lots of countries and have a huge impact on quality of life there. I think that ship is going to sail regardless, though.

The government who works in from the same pandemic protocol that any other gov would also have to work from.

I'm not happy with the responses at all but it's ridiculous to keep solely blaming Boris. He is merely the face of a whole machine.

This isn't the torys pandemic protocol at all.
Let's see what happens on Monday.

We talk about male entitlement being damaging to society.

Well here with have western entitlement.

Thoughtless, entitled behaviour that has big repercussions that spread out like an oil slick in a coral reef.

Pure and simple.

Just used Heathrow and another European airport this week.
I took Clinell hospital wipes with me, you can get them from amazon and they kill bacteria and viruses. They also sell hand washing wipes

I cleaned everything after using the security buckets, touched as little as possible.
Cleaned chairs and tables we sat at and ensured good hand hygiene.

Also cleaned our seats area and tray tables on the plane