Are you cancelling your vacation

I cancelled my spring break holiday. I had booked a week of exotic cooking classes at the Wuhan live animal market. It came with lovely Chinese young gay hosts in their ABnB so I was counting on all sorts of carnal delights.

No, I didn't cancel back in the day of SARS, bird flu, swine flu, Zika, etc. why should I now?

I hope this link works....I concur.

Do not be afraid to travel

There will be GREAT prices on travel this Spring. I say plan away. Like all Flu it will go away.

Take advantage I say!

I'm an introvert and hate leaving my house in the best of times. This is just a good excuse to turn down invitations and stay home.

But I don't tell people I'm staying home because I'm afraid of the coronavirus. I just say I'm not feeling well and should probably take my temperature to see if I have a fever.

I am set for April 1. I will get in a long metal tube and fly for many hours and either I die or I live but I will not have a fear of living.

It's actually significant more lethal than the flu, but far less common (at the moment), so the number is lower.

Death rate for influenza is .1% (one-tenth of one percent). Death rate for COVID19 is 3.4%

R8 and I just read the death rate is below 2%.

WHO recently revised the figure upwards to 3.4%. Google it. Regardless, it is many times higher than influenza's mortality rate of one-tenth of one percent.

Constant conflicting information.

I am not going to spend my life in worry.

There have been people with coronavirus who had few or no symptoms, though, which implies that the death rate might be inaccurate. That's the death rate for those who had significant symptoms; how many had few or no symptoms and were never tested, and never at risk of death?

Coronavirus is more lethal if you're over 50 so no trips to Italy or the EU this year.

Not cancelling!

I'm retiring at the end of March (62 and healthy) and my partner and I are heading to Japan on 4/1 as planned. I'm supposed to finish up in Seoul, but that may change if there is a quarantine for travelers flying back from South Korea. (If that happens, I'll just stay in Japan awhile longer and then fly home from there).

I'm selfishly thinking there is a benefit here. Prices on hotels have dropped (both dollars and award points) since we booked in December so I'm rebooking and saving some money. The main point of the trip was to see the cherry blossoms and they're still going to bloom, but the crowds are going to be far less. I booked business class award tickets, but was waitlisted for domestic segments, and all my upgrades have already cleared.

Airplanes have HEPA filters, which clean the air far better than the meager fans on your local subway car or bus. I popped into Zabar's the other day and some 20-something was coughing her head off and not bothering to cover her mouth. If you think you're safer in the US because our numbers are lower, it's not because the virus is not here, it's because we're not testing in any meaningful numbers.

From the WHO:

[quote] Research has shown that there is very little risk of any communicable disease being transmitted on board an aircraft.The quality of aircraft cabin air is carefully controlled. Ventilation rates provide a total change of air 20–30 times per hour. Most modern aircraft have recirculation systems, which recycle up to 50% of cabin air. The recirculated air is usually passed through HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters, of the type used in hospital operating theatres and intensive care units, which trap dust particles, bacteria, fungi and viruses.

After hearing what the Bloviating Ignoramus said on Hannity last night (no, I don't watch Fox, it's all over MSNBC this morning), I have zero faith on our government's ability to handle this crisis. I have bought travel insurance (always do) and if I get sick and need medical care, I'm just as good in Seoul or Osaka as I am here in New York (and from a financial standpoint, with the insurance it would be cheaper to get sick overseas as my Obamacare deductible is $4500, while with the insurance, there is no deductible)

Sensible R14.

I plan on Rome this summer but I live in the EU so it is a short trip.

I recently booked a trip to the UK this summer. I was planning on taking a Flybe flight. Now it looks like I'll have to make alternative arrangements.

I'm traveling to Russia next month for two weeks. While I'm not too concerned catching the virus, I'm concerned that flights will be cancelled and will make it difficult to get around. I'm booking flights and hotels that have options to cancel if need be. Onward!

R3 I love the reference to Auntie Mame in the link you provided.

Cancelled. What’s the point of risking getting sick and hospitalized in another country at this time? Today they said that up to 15% would need to be hospitalized with breathing issues. It’s not the fear of the thing as we will all probably eventually get it anyways. It’s more about the health care in many countries being overwhelmed and I don’t want my sorry ass stuck in another country if I get it. Just going to postpone for a while.

Yes. I ordinarily leave for the Caribbean, but had no trouble whatsoever renting my condo for the time I had planned. Presently, I'm choosing to stay (or perhaps "bug-out" is more apt) at my beau's remote almost rural, suburban home. It once was a farm, and he has horses, a huge garden, and even a few chickens. I'm not going into crowded places much either. I'm getting most items delivered, and have really stocked up.

Any unnecessary travel I find foolish currently, even a bit selfish. I don't think trains or subways are a good idea either. Others can choose to be more carefree I suppose, but I'm a bit over fifty, and still smoke grass and tobacco occasionally.

Much younger people have less to worry I should have added.

No, I'm just afraid my vacation will BE cancelled!

I work in an ICU, an have a week off in mid-April. I'm not buying tickets until late in the game, in case the shit gets real and vacations are cancelled, and why not wait as prices are falling anyway.

I wanted to travel internationally with husband in May, but neither of us want to get on a plane. We're doing a driving vacation across the Southwest instead. Both in our 40s. No thanks, don't want to get some weird virus.

Not canceling any domestic travel. I have no plans for international. I am avoiding TV news these days and just paying attention to the best advice from the best sources (CDC, NIH, tertiary medical centers). Almost a 100 people die of flu every day- I guess all this panic will do more to stem that number than anything else and of course it will not get a mention in the press which is getting out of hand. News people start off their reports with "the deadly coronovirus..." Not quite sure it is "more deadly" than flu- deaths are reported with bated breath, while testing lags to give a better account of how many are infected which will provide a true picture of its virulence. My guess is many more are infected than reported and simply to not get that sick or sick at all. Trump dissembled the infrastructure for pandemic monitoring including viral testing- wonderful, isn't he?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Who are these best minds?

Where is this statistic?

I see a mix of fear mongering and control and this is no way to live.

3.4% is the low end. Remember this virus comes back and snuffs people after they thought they were better. It's good not to panic: there is some definite panic going on right now. But the threat is real.

Stop being wusses and giving in to paranoia and fear. You have to live life and not be afraid.

And you could step off the curb and die.

We are never safe, we will never be safe. LIVE!!!!

My husband is cancelling his business trip to the US. Nobody wants to be sick in a foreign country, especially one without adequate capacity to test for this virus. Still planning to go to Greece in May, unless it becomes like Italy.

The real problem is making it back home to the States. There are thousands of Americans stranded in Italy right now--and it can happen anywhere a government decides to lock down the borders with almost no notice. I'm probably cancelling a trip to Provence with a planned return date of 25 March.

I have family in Tuscany and I try to go every year; usually in the Fall. This year I was planning for the Spring and was days away from booking and then all hell broke loose. I've been renting the same Airbnb for the past few years, I would be able to cancel that but the airlines would be a problem. I'll just wait this one out. I leave for the Yucatan MX in a week and a half and that's no problem as long as the airlines don't cancel. It's just a 2 hour flight I live in Fort Lauderdale.

the countries that freaked out are containing the virus

R25 Obviously my friend you are incapable of simple arithmetic. Do your fucking research numbskull.

For the dumbkopf R25. ( he more than likely had others do his homework for him at school).

Nah. Usually we go overseas in the summer (Spain, south of France) but luckily this year we just decided to drive up to Maine.

MORE for R25

No, I'm not cancelling living my life simply because I might die. I'm going to die anyway so I might as well enjoy the ride before it stops.

Myth: The coronavirus is less deadly than the flu

So far, it appears the coronavirus is more deadly than the flu. However, there's still a lot of uncertainty around the mortality rate of the virus. The annual flu typically has a mortality rate of around 0.1% in the U.S. So far, there's a 0.05% mortality rate among those who caught the flu virus in the U.S. this year, according to the CDC.

In comparison, recent data suggests that COVID-19 has a mortality rate more than 20 times higher, of around 2.3%, according to a study published Feb. 18 by the China CDC Weekly. The death rate varied by different factors such as location and an individual's age, according to a previous Live Science report.

But these numbers are continuously evolving and may not represent the actual mortality rate. It's not clear if the case counts in China are accurately documented, especially since they shifted the way they defined cases midway through, according to STAT News. There could be many mild or asymptomatic cases that weren't counted in the total sample size, they wrote. (10 March 2020, LiveScience)

In a nutshell NOT flu. The R-nought is much higher than common influenza strains as well. Do not continue to delude yourselves. (not just addressing R25 here). Start taking the red pill. It's good for you.

Currently in SE Asia on vacation. We planned this trip months ago and decided to go. Trip has been to Singapore, Bangkok, Siem Reap Cambodia then going to Saigon and Hanoi. Any public places your temperature is checked by scanners or hand held devices. In Singapore and Bangkok taxi drivers all wear masks. We brought some with us but haven’t used them. There are no Chinese tourists anywhere. At the Angkor Wat temple complex a German guy who has visited the complex a few times said today was a blessing because of a lack of tourists. Every hotel we’ve stayed at has upgraded our accommodations. By the way we’re not young DLers. If you take normal safety precautions you’ll be fine. Now is the time to get cheap flights and low cost accommodations. As someone mentioned earlier, the unknown is if any country decides to follow Italy’s example then we’re fucked.

I'm going on vacation in April!

If my vacation isnt cancelled, and if plane tickets are available by then..

From a public health point of view, unnecessary travel is part of the problem with disease spread, regardless of what Trump, Mnuchin, Pence, Kudlow & Co. tell you spoilt Americans.

You many not contract the virus, or you may do and luck out with milder symptoms, yet you are all contributing to possibly spreading it to others IMHO. This is the tricky part with a virus that has a 27 day incubation capability. All the temperature taking at every leg of your journies does nothing to prevent spreading.

I'm currently in Edinburgh and waiting for my Russian visa to be approved. (I'm a U.S. citizen.) To obtain the Russian visa I had to state and prove my travel dates, and they are: April 15 (arrive) and April 29 (depart). I also needed to make reservations with the hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburg and the hotels needed to provide documentation that I will be staying with them.

As of today, I'm wondering where I should stay before traveling to Moscow on April 15th. I was planning to travel around western France until I leave for Moscow but it looks like the virus has the potential to limit air travel over the next few weeks. I'll be here in Edinburgh until the 16th and will make my decisions where to stay until leaving on the 15th of April.

No, I'm not cancelling anything at this point, but it certainly makes planning for travel more difficult. I am planning on returning to the U.S. via NYC on April 29th, which hopefully won't have incoming travel restrictions.

Turns out it is more virulent than flu. So yes, take precautions advised. I am traveling next week but so far lower risk location (UT mountains).

Unfortunately I don’t have the option to just stay home. I’m an independent contractor and I travel to Expos and Conventions all over the US (including all of the virus “hotspots”!) I make an average of $7500 per Expo, so I hot a minimum of 2 per month. That means I usually travel 25 times or more a year. The only precaution I’ve taken is to have more hand sanitizer at my table and wash my hands every time I pee. (Admittedly I used to skip washing my hands after taking a piss if it was an automatic urinal, automatic door, and all I touched was my own dick!

My mom and I are waiting with bated breath for Princess to cancel our California Cruise sailing out from LA on the 28th. I work in a hotel in a major US city and my hours have been slashed to 20 hours a week and I have to use vacation time to make up for lost hours. I hardly ever get a real vacation and traveling with my mom is a special experience for us. It ain’t happening. I’ll just use my airfare credit for a vacation in 2021, but this just seems to be a continuous saga of crap happening to me this year.

R45 - I’m sorry for your bad luck. I too used to work in the hotel industry and absolutely loved it, but couldn’t survive on the low pay. I went back to school in late 30s and got a vocational degree. Make a lot more money, but miss the people!

We are supposed to go to a wedding in Las Vegas over the Easter weekend. I don’t want to be the first to cancel.

R47 I understand your predicament. Though I'm sternly against unnecessary travel, weddings and funerals are a bit different. You're not travelling internationally, and your destination isn't a hot zone if that helps give perspective. Personally, I would prefer a road trip if possible however over the flights.

I’m planning on taking my annual trip to Chicago for International Mr. Leather in late May. The orgies and sex parties are too good to miss.

I’ll only cancel my trip if it really becomes bad in the USA.

Update: my mom and I are cancelling the cruise. We get a full refund. I’m using my flight credit for Europe in 2021, if it’s still there by then.

Yes, I cancelled a Caribbean cruise scheduled for the end of the month. Not interested in being held captive. Al it takes is just one person on the ship who is found to be sick with the virus and you're all quarantined. I can't risk missing work.

If my vacation comes through and flying isn't happening, then... ROAD TRIP!!!

I think I'll rent a car and haul through Arizona. Arizona in the springtime is beautiful, and thinly populated.

No issues with traveling - but I do want to be someplace in US with decent hospitals if I get sick. Had planned on Japan in April but backed out. No just doing AZ. Spring in the desert in wide open places. Actually feel safer getting out of NYC.

What's a vacation?

Many may have travel plans changing now that WHO have finally declared pandemic.

Just saw an English couple in Rome on TV. Their hotel is closing on Thursday because it's almost empty and they have no idea if they'll be able to fly home.

I think you're crazy to leave your homes at this time unless you have to.

I had a trip booked to Milan which has obviously been cancelled.

As it stands now, I have tickets to visit my mother in Florida for the first week of April. If she wants me to cancel the trip of course I'll do so. But, if it's up to me and I remain in good health, then I'm looking forward to going.

The conference I was planning on attending this month cancelled their in-person sessions. The same happened to most of my colleagues and both jobs (higher ed and healthcare) cancelled any work-related travel.