TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums World Wide Travel Italy Quarantines 16 Million People

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51787238

Special permission to travel required. 1200 new cases on Saturday March 7th.

My experience in Italy is Trenitalia trains, buses, subways, crowds and churches.

It would be wise to keep everybody home for two weeks before spring season and all the flocks of tourist come for warmer travels.

Italy is hard as alot of public transport and crowds of sightseers.

PelicanPirate,

I am afraid what is happening in Italy today is a glimpse into what is going to happen in the US and other countries in Europe in the coming weeks.
With all the news and social media hysteria, I found this article grounded and informative.

What I think of COVID-19

Good article.

Meanwhile, has your situation changed with this latest quarantine? Are you going?

The quick answer is "I do not know"

The long answer:

Being totally independent travelers on this trip we are the ones that will have to make the final call. (No tour company, travel agents, cruise ships involved)
Realizing the US or the Italian Government can make the call to say "No Travel", and then we would of course follow their directions.

Here is where we stand today.

The airlines we are using are still operating in and out of Rome.
They have announced today that we can reschedule our trip with no fees, but if the new tickets are more expensive we would have to cover the delta cost.
(Funny - they did not say if they were cheaper they would refund the extra)

Rome Leg
Hearing mixed reviews in that many of the tourist are saying it is the best ever, because there are very very few tourist. - That is good thing.
However we are also hearing many of the inside attractions we would like to go to, and in some cases we have already purchased tickets, are closed or closing. - That is a bad thing

Tuscany Leg
The farm where we are staying is still open for business and they are posting beautiful pictures as spring arrives.
We have been contact and all is well and no health issues. Here again that could change at anytime.

Breaking News
I heard today Israel put a 14 day quarantine notice on anyone (citizen or non-citizen) entering the country. One has to prove they have a place in which they can self quarantine for those 14 days. I can see something like that being implemented both here and Italy in the coming days/weeks.

So to answer your question... I don't know

Ironically, I have a schedule physical for 3 April. My doctor, who is also a friend, returned from India yesterday and I look forward to his input on my health status, as well as his experiences traveling during this COVID-19 period.

Gut feeling... I am losing my optimism - I can see the windmills - Probably will not make the final decision until 4 April if the trip is a go or a no-go.

OK, best wishes. Hard to know what to do.

Decision getting easier...

Italy extends Coronavirus Measures Nationwide

Yes it is. I'm not real optimistic about our July dates.

Wow, OK. Bummer.

2 weeks ago I replied to an Italy post, wrongly I might add, saying I wouldn't worry about the what ifs and just go and have a great trip! I have been keeping up on this virus closely since. I just traveled to spend time with my daughter who is about to complete her masters in public health, chronic disease epidemiology. My eyes are open now. Every day we see numbers of infected and/or dying in different areas around the world multiplying and this is concerning. It sounds like it's not "if" the virus will hit your town, but when. We have a close friend who is "self" quarantined after traveling abroad recently, she is healthy. I'm still a believer that if you are unlucky enough to catch this and are in good physical shape it will pass like a cold or flu, but my concerns are for the people I know who have compromised immune systems, my mom. As far as travel, I believe that we are screwed in the near future to many destinations. My wife is flying to Nevada tomorrow, we don't really like it, but we can't realistically stay cocooned in our home either. The major concern I would have traveling abroad now would be the possible quarantine, but I'm retired now and have the time! We have talked about our July sailing trip and collectively are staying the course.

Ugh; it changes every day. I have a trip to Italy (Rome, Tuscany, Cinqueterre) scheduled for the end of May/beginning of June. Who knows what I'll be doing, though there is time for things to change. My airline's (AA) change policies only extend to flights on their planes, not the code share flights (I'm on BA), so it should be interesting. I did buy travel insurance last April (when I booked the trip), so I might have some recourse there.

Will be following this thread....

Eva,

Make sure you check you insurance policy. Most travel insurances have exclusions for epidemic and pandemic events.
Normally the only policies that cover this situation clearly state: Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) plan. And they are VERY costly.

Good Luck

Tom--that's what I was going to say--most regular insurance won't cover this situation. Best of luck, Eva and Tom. Best of luck to us all, frankly!!

Tom, you're exactly right, and I didn't buy the policy to cover epidemic/pandemic situations -- any coverage that I might have for this bug will be lagniappe. (Unfortunately, I'm a trip insurance pro, but my claims have always been for weather or geological events.)

Well on the lighter side...

My sweetie sent me to town (we live on a farm in the country) and told me to get all the essentials we will need for a two week self-quarantine.
It took me a while but I think we are ready!

Wow, Tom, I aspire to be you!

Is it because I found the last container of Clorox Wipes in the Grocery Store.

Tom, I see a Pommard staring me in the face.....

Tom--I actually saw some wipes at Dollar General the other day, so I bought a canister, just because! Years ago we used to have a sort of wine cellar in our basement. Now, we just buy whatever!!

I cannot tell a lie... I had not logged into the database some my weekend buys and they were on the counter. When I framed the picture and saw the Pommard front and center I knew it would catch your eye.

Carol - One does not find many basements in Florida... Must have been in your DC days
I wonder if the Dollar General is empty now.
Went to Lowes on Sunday and they were rolling out pallets of them!
People were grabbing them, but only three per customer.

It is a mad mad mad world out there!

Tom--yup, DC days! I didn't really need the wipes at that moment, but we are going to St Maarten the end of May, so I thought I'd get them, in case I couldn't later! Hopefully by that time, all this will have blown over. I hope...

I bought trip insurance thru Insuremytrip and upgraded to CFAR for only $150 more. I always use the sponsor link here on TTOL.

Tom, my screen saver photo changed today, windmills of La Mancha! Timely. We are now having to consider our 90 day cancellation policy for our charter, because we just don't know.

An interesting example of how this virus can affect ones psyche, my wife just travelled to Vegas for business, she only met with a couple of people over 2 days. One person was from Michigan, yesterday after flying home that person learned that her office is working remote now because a person visited/worked in her office on Monday and is now being tested for the virus. We just found out that the woman my wife spent time with, uber'd multiple times with, has not been in her Michigan office since last week....shew. My wife, daughter and I spent the morning considering self quarantine! Crazy times we're living in.

Yep - I saw the windmills and laughed.

We are now officially cancelled for the April trip.

I am still not sure what % of money or if I fall into to this category in regards to the cancellation.

You hold an existing reservation and do not have a new departure date:
You hold a ticket that was issued before or on 12 March with a travel date up to 30 April 2020. You are now able to cancel your reservation without having to rebook right away.
You are able to decide until 01 June by which time a new flight has to be booked. The new travel date must be within the validity of your ticket or until 31 December 2020.
If you choose this option, please get in touch with our Service Center.


Either way we still plan on going to Italy - the question now is only WHEN?

I will get back with Lufthansa when the dust settles a bit.
As one would expect, the phones lines are ridiculous long waits!
And posted please do not call until you are three days away from your booking.

So until then....
Say a Pray for the Sick and then go Wash Your Hands!

Tom--Sorry to hear that, but it is what it is, at the moment..

In the big scheme of things whether we go to Italy is not a big deal.
As you said Carol, "it is what is..."

So many travel lesson have been learned by us from the fallout of this COVID-19 attack.
Of course the last trip was educational to with getting pick pocketed in France.

Just wish all the best to those who are fighting to get home or stuck in long lines at the airport.
I am afraid our battle on the home front has just begun.

The latest in our life is that my wife, who works in a hospital lab, as been asked to delay her retirement date of 10 April until this is over.
Everything seems to be changing hourly.
All one can do is follow the guidance that is given and hang on for the ride.

Pray for the Sick and then go Wash Your Hands!

"it is what it is" in a nut shell. All of our current disruptions are minor compared to what many people have gone through.

For us, 3 trips are unfortunately going to be cancelled/rescheduled. I really feel bad for my daughter and her friends who are finishing grad school isolated from their school and friends. I see a couple Universities have started cancelling/postponing graduations, I believe most will follow soon. The 60 day cancellation policy on our air bnb for the graduation event is tomorrow, "it is what it is".

CDC recommending no gatherings of 50+ people for the next 8 weeks. Imagine the stress many spring brides and their families are going through, all that planning.

Tom and Beerman--I have friends stuck in ST. Maarten, can't get home, possibly until May.... Unbelieveable..

Some may say they wouldn't mind being stranded there for weeks, but not me. I saw your response to manpot talking about restaurant/bar closures. I imagine that store supplies are already an issue there as well? Our local grocery stores were silly the last week, hoarding everything! My wife found potatoes restocked this morning after a weekend with none. We continue to purchase as normal, NO HOARDING! I have pics of empty shelves where fruit, vegetables, canned goods, paper goods and chicken used to be! I would not want to deal with that in the islands.

Beerman--as of NOW, there are no food shortages in SXM, although things can change overnight, especially since they are probably going to close bars and restaurants on both sides of the island. We went to two different grocery stores here on Saturday, as they carry different stuff. First one effectively had NO bread or canned goods, other one fully stocked. People here are hoarding toilet paper and bottled water. There is nothing wrong with the water supply, people!! Drink water from the tap, if need be!!

I saw one cart with 64 rolls of TP in it, that's a years supply in my house!! My daughter saw a guy pushing one cart while pulling another...overflowing with stuff. One positive at our Giant is that certain items are now kept behind the managers counter and they are asking elderly people if they need any of those hard to find things, that's cool.

Giant is a very responsible company. That's good news. Wish I could find some hand sanitizer..

can you find rubbing alcohol? add 3/4 cup to 1/4 cup of aloe gel. add lemon juice or scented oils if you want.

Where do you find aloe gel??? Can't find that either.

Probably any sunburn gel product would work, plain alcohol is the key, but the gel will keep your hands from drying out.

OK, guess I can look for that. I have about half a 16 oz bottle of alcohol, that I had way before this business.

Remember—a hand sanitizer is not a substitute for washing your hands!

From the CDC “alcohol-based sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of microbes on hands in some situations, they don’t get rid of every type of germ."

I have also seen on the web, “if you plan on making your own hand sanitizer, remember that your ingredients must be measured precisely for the product to work. Otherwise, you can actually do more harm than good.”

Hot Water and Soap is the winner - Frequent and Often!

Not sure how it could do more harm than good. But can't find ingredients anyway.

I'm not a big gin drinker, but I have a bottle to use to scrub with...at least ive got that going for me, which is nice!

You're scrubbing with gin??

Joke ;-)