Travel in the time of COVID-19
Oct. 17th, 2021 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anna_wingThere is a lot of enthusiasm as some Asian countries slowly (very slowly) and carefully begin to allow travel in and out, at least for fully vaccinated people, who furthermore understand the concept of compliance with local regulations. There is a point I haven't seen raised, though, which is that one must also consider the level of medical care in the destination country if one does get injured or sick, either with COVID-19 or something else.
Yes, vaccinated people mostly don't get a serious case of COVID-19 if they catch it. But even a mild case can get worse if there is no medical care for it. Yes, of course, your travel insurance should include full medevac. But medevac services are not set up for pandemics. I know of at least one person whose medevac took so long to become available (simply because demand in the region is so high) that while he made it back to his home country, his condition had already deteriorated beyond their ability to save him. And someone who can't get emergency surgery after a car accident because every hospital in reach is tied up with COVID-19 cases is going to be in very serious trouble, insurance or no insurance.
So I think I've not going anywhere but home for at least the next year, unless the healthcare situation is convincingly reliable in the places that I am likely to want to visit.
Yes, vaccinated people mostly don't get a serious case of COVID-19 if they catch it. But even a mild case can get worse if there is no medical care for it. Yes, of course, your travel insurance should include full medevac. But medevac services are not set up for pandemics. I know of at least one person whose medevac took so long to become available (simply because demand in the region is so high) that while he made it back to his home country, his condition had already deteriorated beyond their ability to save him. And someone who can't get emergency surgery after a car accident because every hospital in reach is tied up with COVID-19 cases is going to be in very serious trouble, insurance or no insurance.
So I think I've not going anywhere but home for at least the next year, unless the healthcare situation is convincingly reliable in the places that I am likely to want to visit.
