Coronavirus has led some to rethink travel plans
With the curtain coming down on winter in a couple of weeks, North Strabane resident Karen Mansfield had planned on making an annual trip with girlfriends to Florida to bask in the Sunshine State’s 80-degree days.
But the trip has been thrown into question as a result of the coronavirus.
“We’re debating it,” said Mansfield, who is a part-time reporter for the Observer-Reporter. Mansfield and her friends had booked a trip to the Fort Myers area, but a public health emergency was declared across Florida Sunday by Gov. Ron DeSantis after two individuals were diagnosed with the coronavirus.
“I don’t know that I want to be flying there when there’s a health emergency,” Mansfield explained.
She and her friends haven’t canceled their trip yet, though.
“We’re going to wait a few days and see how things develop, to see if things get worse,” she said. “We still have time before we make a decision.”
Mansfield is one of thousands of Americans who have been forced to rethink travel plans as a result of the coronavirus, which sprung from Wuhan, China, and has been spreading across the world. The most severe outbreaks have been in South Korea, Iran and Italy, and the worldwide death toll is estimated at 3,000.
As of Monday afternoon, there were 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, with the cases in Florida joined by some in Rhode Island, Florida, Oregon, Washington and New York. So far, there have not been any cases reported in Pennsylvania.
The fact that the virus is so contagious and there is no vaccine for it has led to worldwide jitters. The degree of concern internationally was demonstrated Sunday by the decision of officials to shut down the heavily trafficked Louvre museum in Paris, the home of “Mona Lisa,” over coronavirus fears.
Closer to home, Washington & Jefferson College has called off a study abroad program in South Korea. No students from the college are in China, Japan or Italy, according to a statement released by the college, and the W&J office that coordinates foreign travel “is in the process of sharing safety information with all students who are currently studying abroad.”
Waynesburg University released a statement saying it is “currently evaluating the potential for exposure to coronavirus for our study abroad trip locations. Once we complete that assessment, we will determine whether we will adjust current or future study abroad programming.”
California University of Pennsylvania has no plans yet to curtail domestic travel, according to spokeswoman Christine Kindl. There is a study abroad trip to Greece planned in the spring, and trips to Madagascar and Eastern Europe on the agenda for the summer. Kindl said university officials are “keeping a close eye on those destinations,” but there are no plans to postpone the trips because the U.S. State Department “has not elevated the status for these locations.”
Worldview Travel Network, a travel agency in Washington, has fielded about 10 calls per day from worried travelers about the coronavirus, according to agent Carl Brandtonies.
“It’s a concern for everybody,” he said. “We try to give them as much of an informed determination as we can make for their travel.”
One couple who had booked a trip to Florida called it off because of coronavirus fears, according to Sandy Davis, the owner of Davis Travel Agency in Monongahela. Otherwise, most of her clients are forging ahead with their plans, and Davis herself is planning a trip to Europe.
“You can’t live your life with what-ifs,” she said.
Nina McKnight, who operates Out of Here Travel in Canonsburg, said none of her clients has called off trips and she is going to Greece, “but it all depends on what the CDC says.”
Debbie Rohanna of Travel Savers in Waynesburg said things have been “business as usual” in her office with no one opting to cancel a trip.
“People have asked us what would happen if they need to cancel, but there are no answers,” she said. “We can’t predict what might happen. We highly recommend travel insurance that would protect a cancellation under a covered reason.”
A nationwide bar association conference is looming in Chicago in a couple of weeks, and Kathy Sabol, the executive director of the Washington County Bar Association, said she is going ahead with her trip.
“I know my sister is concerned about traveling with me, but we still plan to go,” she said.
Tom Northrop, a South Strabane resident and former publisher of the Observer-Reporter, is in Thailand now with his daughter, Emily Northrop. He said via Facebook that they considered calling the trip off, “talked about it at length,” but ultimately decided to go ahead. They bought masks and hand sanitizer, and frequently wash their hands.
“Because of the virus, thousands of Chinese tourists have not been allowed to come,” he said. “Many sites are nearly empty.”
But, Northrop explained, the locals “don’t seem overly concerned.”