I would probably say no right now as well.
Our local newspaper has an article today of several local tour companies canceling their tours to China and trying to get refunds for their customers. Iâd prefer my kids minimize travel at this time, especially to China or Taiwan.
Ebola is definitely different in terms of morbidity rate, though.
If it was me, Iâd take a wait and see approach. So much could change in a week or two in terms of discovering more about this virus. Right now, it doesnât seem to be posing a big threat to healthy young people.
When is your child scheduled to depart, @xanthippe?
@doschicos Theyâre scheduled to leave in 10 days
âthe U.S. plans to expand screening for the virus to 20 airports from the current five. Details on the additional airports have not been released but Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech Monday that the airports collectively handle 90% of all passengers from China. Houstonâs George Bush Intercontinental Airport confirmed on Twitter that is is one of the 15 additional airports.â (USA Today)
United Airlines is suspending temporarily 24 flights between the US and China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai) from 2/1 and 2/8 and will continue to monitor the situation. The comments from the airline talk of greatly reduced demand being a driving factor in the decision.
From CNBC:
The World Health Organization is sending a delegation of researchers and other health experts to China to help combat the coronavirus outbreak.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier Tuesday. The two were joined by top officials from the WHO and the Chinese government to discuss how best to contain a fast-spreading and deadly virus in Wuhan and other cities and provinces.
âStopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHOâs highest priority,â Tedros said in a statement. âWe appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus.â
The WHO said its delegation will collaborate with Chinese counterparts âon increasing understanding of the outbreak to guide global response efforts.â A spokesperson declined to further comment on the delegation, including who will be included in the group.
The WHO said the source of the outbreak and the extent to which it has spread remains unknown.
According to the WHO, more data needs to be collected before the virus is declared a global health emergency. The organization declined at two emergency meetings last week to say it was a worldwide emergency.
"The United States is offering to send a team of health experts to China to help in containing the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said at a briefing Tuesday that the Trump administration has offered Chinaâs minister of health to send a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team to help with the public health response to the outbreak.
âWe are urging China that more cooperation and transparency are the most important steps you can take toward a more effective response,â Azar said.
Azar said the assistance was offered directly or in conjunction with the World Health Organization, but U.S. officials have yet to get the go-ahead to do so.
Azar was made aware of the WHO announcement by reporters during the briefing Tuesday, and said âobviously, if that is the case, [Iâm] delighted with that newsâŠand assuming CDC personnel would be part of that.â (The Hill)
From CNN:
"UK warns against most travel to mainland China during coronavirus outbreak
From CNNâs Milena Veselinovic
The UK Foreign Office has upped its travel warning for China, now advising against all but essential travel to mainland China, and against all travel to Hubei province, amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
âThe FCO advise against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China (not including Hong Kong and Macao). The Chinese government continue to impose further restrictions on movement within China in response to the coronavirus outbreak. It may become harder over the coming weeks for those who wish to leave China to do so. If you feel that you may want to leave China soon, you should consider making plans to do so before any further restrictions may be imposed,â the FCO statement says.
The FCO is working on a plan to evacuate British citizens from Hubei province, the statement says, âdue to increasing travel restrictions and difficulty accessing medical assistance.â"
For those who donât like to click on links without some kind of description, the title of that youtube video linked above is
âWuhan citizen plainly tells the #coronavirus situation in Wuhan & seeks help from the world.â In Chinese with English subtitles.
I guess Iâm a cynic but the guy in the Youtube video has a link to âdonateâ to his paypal account. And why is he wearing a mask inside his apartment?
^^Please do not propagate any of the myths listed in this article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-51271037
ETA: this YouTube video appears to be one of such clickbait links.
As soon as I saw he was wearing a mask in his own apartment, I laughed and turned it off. Didnât see the paypal thing.
Regarding whether masks help or not, here is a good summary:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/28/health/coronavirus-us-masks-prevention-trnd/index.html
It will take some time before the CDC can accurately determine if the virus is airborne or droplet-based. I think itâs silly and builds fear to pretend that anyone knows yet. They donât. Also, the death rate hasnât been determined yet as the numbers are in flux. For the most part, it appears to be about 3% (reported via several Govt sources like the CDC). The other major factor that will have a huge impact on the severity of the disease is how long it incubates and under what conditions. Does it spread from person to person? IF so, how? Can the virus live on surfaces? etc.
If anyone is like me and read the book, The Great Influenza ( man I wish I hadnât), you will recall that the Spanish Flu/ came in two waves. The first wasnât that bad and the second was more virulent. I was really interested in this topic as 3 of my four great-grandparents died from Spanish flu in 1918 ( Boston area second wave). All were in their 30âs with young families.
We really have to hope that China can contain the virus or at least slow the spread so they can have more time to understand it and build up resistant drugs.
I would definitely not send any family members to China at this point in time (or Hong Kong/Taiwan). I think you will know more in about two weeks. Honestly, I doubt the school wouldnât cancel the trip in any case.
âNow, CDC is sending extra staff to other âquarantine stationsâ to screen arrivals at a total of 18 airports around the country and at two border crossings, in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego.â (Fox)
Looks like those 20 locations I previously quoted include to border crossings. I find it interesting that they would focus on the southern border as opposed to our northern border. HmmâŠ
Here are the airports:
Airport screenings were initially done in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta. That has been expanded to Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; Dallas; Detroit; El Paso, Texas; Honolulu; Houston, Miami, Minneapolis; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia; San Diego; Seattle; Washington, D.C. (Dulles); and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Supposedly, the US government has earmarked $105 million towards efforts to control the virus in the USA.
Chinese-Canadians: 1.77 million
Chinese-Mexicans: 70 thousand
Hmm⊠is right.
Starbucks is closing over 2,000 stores in China, about half of its locations.
3 new cases confirmed in Germany, all connected to the first case (contact with a business contact who was visiting from Shanghai). Total of 4 people.
1 more case confirmed in Canada, in BC.
Transmissions here are likely to come from people here who are already infected. There arenât going to be many visitors from China in the next month or two. All Chinese cities are in virtual lockdowns (many voluntarily). People there seem to be staying home and only go out for absolute necessities. The travel industries are taking massive hits with everyone cancelling their trips (the government mandates that all bookings, even the non-refundable ones, are to be refunded).
âI guess Iâm a cynic but the guy in the Youtube video has a link to âdonateâ to his paypal account. And why is he wearing a mask inside his apartment?â
I donât know about the Paypal, but as a survivor of a former communist country, I can tell you why he is using the mask : he is afraid of being recognized and arrested. People who live in a free country canât even imagine how much courage it takes to record such a video. Here you can mock the president on Twitter and move on with your life the next day. In China, you may end up being arrested and even the rest of your family may suffer serious consequences.
Do not minimize the importance of his message. I know, because years ago I was on the other side of the fence. The desperation and the hope that you place on other people hearing your message are difficult to describe.