International travel to the US

[DBML]

Trump is looking at international travel. The US is considering testing for coronavirus on the plane.
He’s acknowledged much of Florida’s business comes from international travel, particularly from South America.
Theme parks and attractions looking to open in phases, with some restrictions initially.
America are clearly keen to get their economy up and running at whatever cost.

@coronabeer23

Cortez beach at AMI

One of my favourite places in the world.

The mana tee swam right up to us 🥰

*manatee

@DBML I’m sure you’ll love Sanibel! As you drive over the causeway you’ll be in heaven. Hire bikes from Billy’s and cycle all over. Go to the lighthouse and Lighthouse Beach, If you want the best breakfast then it’s the Lighthouse Cafe. I’d recommend The Island Cow for lunch And if you can head out further to Captivate then sunset at The Mucky Duck is a must-do.

Feeling cheerful now.

*Captiva

@redpickle - we had paid a deposit and they are giving us it back as a credit. Has no expiry/ restriction. Was v impressed. Even if we paid the whole amount they said they'd have done the same. Haven't actually had it yet but only sorted it yesterday.

@MotheringShites

Sounds perfect. I love recommendations, makes life a little bit easier. We’ll definitely put this on the list and the dinner.

I love some of the causeways...they feel like you’re driving up into the sky and then suddenly it’s all there, laid out in front of you.

This year we were also going to discover Sanibel, Venice and we were maybe going to pop to Naples

Excellent choices all - and do make sure you take in Sarasota, which is heavenly

My trip's supposed to be 5 weeks from 9 September, but if you get into planning Venice or Sarasota feel free to ask anything; I know them both extremely well and am happy to help

Never yet seen a manatee except in a zoo though ... consumed with envy over that!!

Thank you @puzzledandpissedoff !
I will hold you to that!

Seeing the manatee was pretty incredible. They swam so close we could have touched them...but we didn’t because you’re told not to.

Every time we go to Florida we have a unique experience.

Thank you again and recommendations for routes; restaurants and any special excursions are always welcome!! Xx

You're very welcome, DBML; I really mean it, so don't hold back on anything you need

Off to bed now, but I'll get straight onto the things you've already asked about tomorrow ...

Hasn’t Florida done well on covid, especially given the average age of the population?

@dbml sorry not read the full thread yet but wanted to say that Trump might be saying that about Florida but he just banned all flights from Brazil landing in the US. No end in sight for that travel ban, ironically Brazil is the one place with an even crazier president who doesn't believe in Coronavirus.

If they're serious about this they need to introduce scanners at airports, in the same way you get body scanned now for security purposes. Although we're aware in this household that those little scanner thermometer thingies they point at your forehead aren't necessarily as accurate as the ear, armpit, under the tongue (or the other end of the body!). (Don't ask. That's what happens when you share your living space with a nurse. You sometimes learn more than you'd like to.)

And when they do come up with some kind of prophylactic, which hopefully they will (though it's unlikely to be imminent), then I'd anticipate you'd have to take a pill or have a jab, like you do for malaria, yellow fever and other tropical nasties now.

If they're serious about this they need to introduce scanners at airports, in the same way you get body scanned now for security purposes

Yeah they will. I just linked to an article where Emirates was starting to do pre-boarding blood tests that give results in ten minutes. I think the FDA has approved a rapid test that does results in five so it really seems like the tech is there for this

I’m due to go on a road trip through the mid west in August and then a quick break to Daytona in October .
I’m hoping both still go ahead but until the travel ban is lifted I just don’t know ?!

Disappointing as it is to cancel a holiday, are you really willing to risk adding to the spread of this virus round the world!? If we have it under control in the UK by the summer holidays, if people start flying off all over the world for R and R, some will come home with the virus. Cases will rise, more people will die and we will end up back in lockdown

@poilymo

Assuming it is deemed safe to fly and restrictions are lifted, then yes.

Because the alternative would be to cancel the holiday of my own choosing and lose an awful lot of money.

As I have said previously, I won’t be taking my own private plane and ignoring advice. And if my holiday is cancelled, then that’s it.
I am simply hoping that it ends up safe enough for me to go.

Tests on planes and temperature scanners will have limited use. We travelled back from overseas just before lockdown here in NZ, from a covid free country. The biggest risk we faced was standing in crowds at the airport. We were with people from other planes from a number of high risk countries. We could not maintain even a 1m distance due to the way the airport was set up and queued for over an hour (highly unusual in NZ). I know from the data here than several covid positive people passed through the airport that day. We were lucky but it was pretty stressful waiting out the 14 days of self isolation.

NZ had three new cases today. One was from overseas travel. Because all the travellers have to do 14 day quarantine, they have not passed this on. It sounds like this would be different in the UK.

@DBML just PM'd you with the restaurant list ... rest of info to follow

@Turangawaewae Absolutely agree on the scanning being of limited use, I would see it eventually as being one of a whole raft of measures, including actual staggered boarding (not the jumble sale scramble we've had in recent years), masks, jabs, pills, and possibly a "Fit to Fly" certificate issued by a medical professional. I'm sure there are things I've missed!

I also see international travel going back to how it was when I was growing up, when a week's trip to Spain was a luxury, not a right. I'm a Remainer, but it will be interesting to see how Europe copes with this in terms of land borders....

@Puzzledandpissedoff

You are an absolute star! Thank you!!

For anyone planning at Florida holiday - I recommend St. Armands Circle near Sarasota. We’ve had some brilliant holidays staying there.

@Parker231

Thanks for coming on a sharing! It’s lovely to hear from other Florida fans and keep the thread positive!

I’ll check out St. Armands!

So apparently in Florida they're reopening very quickly. People are very keen to be going there on holiday again, and pretend that life has gone back to normal. Hotel bookings are back up again.

No one wearing masks, no one bothering with social distancing.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with infections and hospitalisations as a result. Florida has turned into one of those states that's a little experiment for the rest of the country to watch.

Florida have been doing very well.
Hairdressers and salons open now too!
Still hopeful I can get there this year 🤞