Coronavirus - is it safe to travel to Asia now?

Ugh so terrible virus!!! Feels uncomfortable I think!

Have a nice weekend

Hugs

We are all different and make different risk assessments. Most people choose not to worry and think that they should not panic. I think we should try to be as realistic as possible. Instead of counting different numbers of rather low cases in countries outside of China (so far), we must instead look at the fact that the WHO has now declared the situation a global health hazard. With the rapid and uncontrolled rate of spread, nobody, say nobody, knows how this will develop. The virus is spreading exponentially - each infected person is estimated to infect three more. This is insidious because the incubation period is long and people are infected without showing any symptoms. You also don't know how seriously you will be affected if you fall ill. There is evidence that people are dying. Personally, I would not go anywhere in the world right now unless it was necessary. Why expose yourself to crowds at airports, sit cramped in aeroplanes where you don't actually know or have any guarantees that everyone around you is not infected? I wouldn't travel to any country that doesn't have effective containment capabilities or adequate health care resources. It is naïve to think that people washing their hands every few days and not touching their faces will help. This is contact and airborne infection - invisible! But this is me and my thoughts. I think in prepper terms in other contexts as well without trying to exaggerate so my possible "wanderlust" I had put on the shelf now. The world is still there after all and it is probably more fun to visit without people with masks everywhere!

Going to Vietnam on 8 February. More likely to have an accident at work than to meet an infected person.

When the swine flu came, there was almost hysteria, which is never good. I don't think you should be terrified, but it can make sense to act with common sense. Right now, I would not travel to China.

I just want to add that my previous post is based on the fact that I just moved back to Sweden after ten years in France. They have a completely different approach and preparedness for different types of disasters - infections, floods, strikes, fires. This is after two world wars, which Sweden has no experience of whatsoever. I therefore still follow the French and American/British media to get a better picture of reality, plus of course the Swedish media. And I can say that the Swedish media are much more "lame", in general terms, everything is about toning down and making sure there is no panic. From an international perspective, they see all this quite differently. They are fully reporting on the WHO and their assessment, updating the situation hourly, talking about risks and the fact that more and more countries (except Sweden) are bringing their citizens home via specially chartered planes and putting them in 14-day quarantine in their home country. The United States has now closed its borders to people who have been to China and most airlines (now also SAS) have stopped their departures to China. Foreign media show pictures of empty ghost towns, disinfection, doctors making statements and people who are not panicking but know what is going on. I'm puzzled by the Swedish attitude - it's as if it's about being able to choose when you can't even get there anymore? Well, I don't feel like it right now? Now the Public Health Agency of Sweden has finally asked the government to classify the situation as socially dangerous - maybe Swedes will also realise that this is contagious far beyond China's borders, that you should be careful with travel, crowds and planes in particular, not just to Asia right now?