A Knife Edge!

It looks like the Coronavirus (Covid19) is getting worse. This morning when I turned on the television, before work, I listened with interest about the spread of the virus throughout Asia and now Europe. The number of deaths is rising and recorded cases multiplying almost by the hour. It does seem that wherever you travel to, you are now at risk  and unless you decided to hibernate for the next few months, you are going to have to put up with the dangers that surround this virus. So far at least, I haven't given the illness a second thought, too busy dealing with my own issues, to be thinking about something that may or may not affect me in the future.

At the moment our jaunt to Asia is still very much alive, if a little dishevelled so to speak; we have had to cancel the first flight on our trip, travelling through China. After contacting Air China, I negotiated a full refund without any argument. The airlines' spokesman was more than happy to help us and told me they would be re-routing flights around infected areas anyway. The other flights we have booked remain untouched, until we have arranged new tickets with a different airline, or cancelled altogether.

Darrell continues to cast doubt on travelling to Japan and Thailand at this time. He remains medium risk for contracting Coronavirus after suffering two lung collapses in the past, one of them on a plane flying to Australia. With his Mother seriously ill, he doesn't necessarily want to put himself and consequently his Mum at risk by touring the worst infected areas on our journey.

Whatever we choose to do, we will have to make that choice in April and book the rest of our trip last minute or arrange a new holiday instead. None of us have enough information to make an informed decision at present and have not  been able to cancel the other two flights in our itinerary. My insurance company has delayed taking responsibility for any change until we have exhausted every avenue open to us first. Of course insurance companies are great at offloading their liability in such situations and are less willing to help when it is needed most.

On top of all this stress, Darrell was also informed that his Australian travel agent, who he bought his aeroplane tickets from has gone into administration. They haven't paid for his flights to Singapore and Japan and with protection limited, he has more than likely lost the money he paid. This is just another hurdle to cross, and I am surprisingly taking it all in my stride, which is highly unusual for me.

Only time will tell what happens next and I still remain positive about our vacation for now. I can't change what is happening in the rest of the World, but keeping myself updated on this rapidly changing situation and remaining upbeat, not panicking and ignoring the sensationalist headlines, should allow for a measured approach when making any decisions. The World will not stop because of Coronavirus, planes will still fly and people will continue to travel, as long as we all take sensible precautions, life should carry on, very much as it has before!

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