By Rachel Eddie
Major airlines (click here) are not offering refunds for all international flights, despite Australians being warned against all overseas travel as the government ramps up its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Level 3 travel advice was implemented for all countries on Friday, meaning all non-essential overseas travel should be avoided. It is just one step below the highest Level 4 "do not travel" warning.
"This is done to protect their health and to limit their exposure, given we have so many countries now that are affected by the coronavirus," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Qantas only considers giving refunds on international flights when a Level 4 warning is issued, like the one in place for China. At this stage, travellers will not be offered full refunds for all international flights because the federal government only advised against going overseas, rather than banning it....
So, trip insurance will cover it, right? Ahhhh, not so much.
March 10, 2020
AIG Travel is closely monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19), (click here) and its potential impact on travel. While we will continue to provide periodic updates regarding travel safety, travelers should consult the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) websites for the most up-to-date information on the Coronavirus outbreak.
If you are considering canceling your trip due to the Coronavirus, please read your insurance policy thoroughly. Generally, fear of travel is not a covered event under most of our policies.
Nonetheless, there may be additional options available to travelers whose plans have been impacted. Travelers planning to re-book their travel for later in the year may be able to modify their current insurance policy to apply to future travel....
Then airline travel must be extremely safe, except for those cancelled flights, right? Hm? Not sure about that though.
March 22, 2020
By Jessica Puckett
As the new coronavirus outbreak (click here) continues to grow, airlines are doing their part to help travelers, from offering flexible change policies to taking precautions to sanitize and prevent the virus from spreading.
Airlines usually clean plane cabins to varying degrees when turning around the aircraft between each flight. Usually, this can entail picking up trash, switching out linens, and wiping down surfaces with an EPA-approved disinfectant. When the aircraft is done flying at the end of the day, crews usually give the plane a deeper scrub so it’s refreshed for the next day (for example, Southwest says it spends six hours on a final clean of each aircraft every night).
On international flights, the cleaning might be a bit more rigorous since there’s more time between flights to spend on tidying the cabin. American Airlines, for instance, says its aircraft operating international flights routinely receive a “detailed 30-point cleaning package each day.” Most airlines say they periodically remove aircraft from flight rotations for a thorough detailed clean....
It isn't as though pilots and flight attendants are getting sick, right?
March 9, 2020
By Sinead Baker
A Japan Airlines flight attendant (click here) has tested positive for the coronavirus, the airline said on Monday.
Tokyo health officials believe the unnamed woman, who is in her 50s, had shown symptoms on February 24.
The following day she worked on flight JL 009 from Chicago to Tokyo's Narita airport on February 25.
The airline said 104 passengers were on that flight.
The cabin crew were wearing gloves and masks during the flight and the plane has since been disinfected, according to the airline....
Better and quicker than the bus, right? This is capitalism at it's best. OMG.
By Amy McKeever
Chinese airlines (click here) have been selling tickets for as low as $4 during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a report in the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.
When an outbreak strikes, (click here) it is natural to become leery of hopping on an airplane. It is even more alarming when two serious viruses are circulating at once.
The world is gripped by a new coronavirus that started in China and has since moved into more than 85 countries, including the United States. Meanwhile, it is also flu season, which so far has caused 18,000 deaths in the U.S.
Major airports have begun screening passengers for the coronavirus, and more than three dozen airlines—including Delta, American, and United—have cut their flights to China and other places affected by the crisis. But those measures may not provide much solace to anyone who has to board a flight.
After all, you can avoid the person who is sneezing in line at Cinnabon, but you’re more or less left to fate once you’ve strapped on that seatbelt inside a flying metal canister.
While there is still much to learn about the Wuhan outbreak, scientists do know a bit about similar coronaviruses and other respiratory illnesses like influenza. So how do those viruses spread—and specifically on airplanes? And how serious is the coronavirus threat compared to the likes of influenza? Let’s take a look....
2017 was the 25th year of the Pasifika Festival (click here)
Pasifika Festival (click here) has been cancelled as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).
The decision was made after discussions between Mayor Phil Goff and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday and again this morning.
Overnight, the COVID-19 Cabinet Committee met and considered the issue, and its advice, based on concerns from MFAT and MBIE, was to cancel.
“While the latest Ministry of Health advice is that New Zealand does not have a community outbreak of COVID-19 and the risk of a community outbreak remains low, council and the Cabinet Committee’s specific concerns are about the risk of possibly being transmitted to the Pacific Islands by attendees of the Festival,” Mayor Goff said.
“The history of the spread of contagious infections from New Zealand to Samoa, with last year’s measles epidemic which took 82 lives, weighed heavily on our decision.
“It is disappointing for all of us as Aucklanders, and particularly for our Pacific communities, that the festival will not be going ahead this weekend,” said Phil Goff.
“It’s unfortunate to have to cancel an event enjoyed by tens of thousands which celebrates our vibrant Pacific community in Auckland and our multiculturalism.
“However, Aucklanders will understand the council taking commonsense steps to reduce the risk of the virus spreading....
