CoronaVirus

higher chances of you dying if flu in dublin.... or being killed in a road accident... then dying of coronavirus in Thailand

I'd definitely wait to see, number are doubling at the moment and there's no clear information. I'd probably book a cozy week or 2 in spain instead.

As more cases of the corona virus turn up around the world linked with travel to the area of origin in China, is it not time to ban flights form those areas now?

Van.Bosch wrote: »

How would it work in reality? I could connect through Frankfurt on my way home - do you block the Frankfurt flight (illegal in EU) or block a flight from China landing in EU?

What about people who connect from China through Singapore for example?

Even if you could do it, are you imprisoning people there at the moment, in that they couldn’t get out?

I don't know how it would work but I would absolutely keep people there, costs paid by the Government until this is under control. The few that would suffer would be more that counterbalanced by the possible consequences of corona taking hold in this country.

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Taking hold? What are you talking about?

It's a new strain of flu, that's all. People get sick, nearly all get better.

The elderly and infirm are susceptible, but that's no different to the normal flu.

Nobody knows if it is similar to normal flu yet but it seems to be far more contagious that other strains.
The Chinese authorities are taking this very seriously we would be foolish not to.

Kev11491 wrote: »

https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factchecking-the-coronavirus

"Like SARS, the new coronavirus strain has no known cure – although most cases do not prove fatal, and some patients have already recovered and been discharged from hospital."

Banning flights will probably have little effect now and if anything would increase panic.

You may be right that it's now too late to halt flights as it is already outside China but there is no panic and I can't see how stopping a few flights interconnected with affected regions would cause much inconvenience except for the few involved much less panic.

there are around 15 to 70 thousand deaths every year in Europe by the common flu. Ask yourself, would you like your long awaited vacation to Tenerife cancelled just because there are some people in your country who are sick? If so, why stop at travel ban - we should cancel all public events, mass gatherings etc.

I understand we don't know much about this virus, but we do know that the patient zero got sick at around Christmas, for best part of the month there were no restrictions to move about and only for the last few days affected areas are under a lock down.. After a month of virus being free to roam around in a densely populated area with not the highest hygiene standards we only have couple of thousand infected and a little over 100 people dead. I wish flu was this passive.

I think we have to wait and see what's happening for the next two or so weeks, but so far it looks like it's a carbon copy of SARS that didn't really spread outside Asia, with isolated cases of people getting the virus in China and bringing it to North America/Europe but not spreading it further.

Accumulator wrote: »

This is not the common flu. It's not common, hence the term 'novel' (virus jump from bats/snakes to humans).
There is no immunity nor vaccine available. There is also a small risk of 2nd wave mutation (as per the Spanish flu).

Current 1st wave, displays x20 the fatalitiy rate (2-3%) compared to regualar seasonal flu (0.1%).

The very earliest vax may be 3mths away, but when you add in human trials, then it's closer to 1yr before roll-out of a preventative jab.

why would you consider vaccines and immunity for something that essentially is a once-off freak event? I would much rather try to persuade (I know how naive it sounds, but..) China to bring their food safety and hygiene standards into 21st century, all these issues are coming from their gross negligence and incompetence when handling animals

Pat Dunne wrote: »

I would ask the question.

What has this got to do with Aviation and Aircraft?

In my opinion this subject is more related to the Travel Forum. Perhaps the Current Affairs Forum of which the OP is a regular contributor. Or most likely the whacky, surreal world of the After Hours Forum, which appears to be popular with the OP.

The answer is that air travel is the main carrier of affected people from one country to another. Also closed airports will affect aviation. Better to do what may be an overreaction now rather than later when the genie is out of the bottle.

deconduo wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51292590

BA have suspended all flights to mainland China now, wouldn't be surprised if other airlines start to follow suit.

Needed to be done. Lets hope the others follow soon.

Apparently Irish being brought back from Wuhan will be quarantined in France.

De Danann wrote: »

Are you serious? Going for my very first time next week. That's disapointing to hear, had a certain budget set out for this trip based on travel vlogs I'd been following.

What would be say, the price of a cooked meal from a street market these days? Would you be there in backpacker conditions or more luxurious?

If you've never been there before you're not going to notice price increases in fairness.

I go there regularly and lived there for a while so the strength of the baht is very obvious. Then there's the Thai logic: there are fewer tourists, we're making less money. Solution - put up prices.

Over 50 people die in road traffic accidents in Germany a week. Better avoid alright.

We are right to be concerned worldwide as a population and hope it doesn't become worse but on an individual level currently the odds are so vastly low of anything happening to you.

Just keep your wits about you, don't touch handles or shake hands.
If you do, have hand sanitiser handy.