In the past months, I have followed the news and seen how the Wuhan Coronavirus (a.k.a. 2019-nCoV), which was later named as COVID-19, has swept across the world. By now, most of everyone I know from different places have already been impacted by it. And for those who live in places that have not seen many cases yet, people are already preparing in case it escalates.
As of this writing, there are already 378,287 total confirmed cases and 16,497 deaths across the globe. (Source: Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins)
It is ill-advised to travel for now. Staying at home and self-isolating is the best thing we can do individually to help limit the spread of this disease. And I guess this would be the best time as well to learn what I need to know to make informed decisions when making travel plans in the future. Here are some of the resources I find particularly helpful and worth checking out from time to time.
This dashboard lists all confirmed cases by country/region. I find it user-friendly and easy to understand. It’s helpful as it gives me a simple and clear picture of the places affected by this.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization's page dedicated to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic contains information that includes Situation reports, Travel advice, and tips on precautions needed. At this point when many countries are encouraging their people to stay at home or practice social distancing, many have put travel on hold. But for those who may have been caught by the fast turn of events related to this while traveling, it is good to know the proper protections and measures to take to minimize the risk of catching this disease.
CDC Travel Notices
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website issues travel notices and other resources related to travelers' health. At this time, the Level 3 warning has been raised in some countries.
As the world watches, prepares and deals with this problem, I think staying home until this is over will be the most helpful thing we can do to. And maybe we can just use the time of self-isolation to slow down and reflect on how this could possibly change the future of travel as we know it and learn to adapt.
