I have really mixed feelings right now and it's taken a hit on me not only emotionally but financially as well. Although I am living in Sydney, the coronavirus has affected me, my family and my decision to not travel this year.
For those who don't know, there is a Wuhan Pneumonia, a type of coronavirus that basically means it has symptoms of a flu, which then very rapidly turns into pneumonia, and apparently it's pretty intense to the point that it is so difficult to breathe, it feels like you are drowning. There is no cure, no vaccine, and it's really just your immune system vs an evolving coronavirus, and measures to help ease symptoms. Regardless of whatever name you may have heard this illness as, be it COVID-19, it's pretty much a global epidemic.
We have family in Hong Kong and the situation over there is pretty much summed up in a word: grave. We were asked to source some face masks for our direct family as there is a severe shortage in Hong Kong. Actually, if I were to say it correctly, there is a severe shortage to the general public, as the Government has decided to not release their mask supply (which is very abundant and being sold to their police force at wholesale cheap as chips prices), pushing up the demand and cost of living through the roof.
Knowing that there were risks involved, we still took a chance and bought some extremely expensive masks (as they too as very short in supply, due to the Australian bush fires and coronavirus masks coincidentally being the same grade in terms of effectiveness), and sent two boxes overseas. We warned another man who was buying masks for his sister in law in China, to send them separately, in case if they were nicked by customs or officials who wanted the masks for themselves.
Unfortunately it was the same case for us, and our parcels have been in limbo and not even been scanned on the other end overseas. As for whether they have been stolen, lost, or simply "delayed" (though I would not use this word for it as it has not been scanned and it has been over 10 days since it has left Australia), my only hope now is to claim the value of its contents plus the postage I have paid, via the insurance I have purchased for the parcels.
Yesterday with a heavy heart I also decided to cancel my trip to Tokyo as there are a number of cases of coronavirus being confirmed almost every other day due to the cruise at Yokohama port, and the first death in Kanagawa of an 80 year old Japanese lady (who may or may not have been in good health, but was apparently fourth-in-line from the first point of contact, if that makes any sense).
The Japanese airports have also issued notices that if anyone on board a flight comes up with a fever, none of the following passengers on the same flight will be allowed into the country. To me, that is a huge risk to take and being stuck on a plane for over 9 hours with someone potentially with the virus, and with a small child with me (children do not wear masks), the decision is pretty clear.
I'm not going to hide my absolute dismay at this terrible attempt to cover up this disaster. I wouldn't even be so annoyed if my travels were cancelled due to a natural disaster, but this is clearly a man-made error, and it was further distributed overseas, spread, due to a group of people who simply wanted to leave their country with the fear they would be locked up (in any sense) as a quarantine precautionary.
Emotionally I am distraught as I have spent a long time planning the trip and saving extremely hard to make sure that this would all work out. All our other shopping and travels have been adjusted and planned around this trip as we expected to buy our supplies in Japan. Half of my airfares and accommodation have barely been refunded back to me, and for a stay at home mum who was trying to pay for this family trip, this has had an insane toll on me. Financially I might be better off as we no longer need to save up for spending money overseas. But at the end of the day I am poorer than I was due to a certain entity's (or certain entities' even) negligence.
I have really tried to make this blog positive and happy as that's what's travelling is mostly about. But on this occasion, I'm sorry. I can't. I can't be positive. I planned this trip well in advance, and I can only be thankful I had a good travel insurance company who was willing to credit my travel insurance, and that I did not book my rental car yet. Everything else - ugh, such a blow.
On the positive however, I will use the money to continue saving up or getting better things for our child. I might also finally treat myself to something nice. Last month was the first time in perhaps 2 years I bought new clothes, and that's really crazy for me because I really needed clothes (none of my clothes really fit) but kept delaying to save money.
For those who say that the coronavirus is media hype, I wouldn't jump onto that bandwagon. Despite knowing that I can keep my family safe as possible, I am still pretty worried about my in-laws in Hong Kong because it really is that bad. The city is not in lock down, and there have been several cases of infected people fleeing from hospital because they didn't want to be isolated (why go to the hospital then?). The spread of the virus is vicious, and international travel is really not worth it.
Even videos of cities in lock down on the mainland are extremely disturbing with footage that suggests the actual number of cases and deaths have been severely downplayed. We are talking people being locked into their homes (by force), cutting food supplies, and dead people on the streets. This is not just the ordinary flu. It is really a fight for the survival of the fittest.
To anyone else who is contemplating on whether or not to continue their travels to Japan, I would recommend delaying it later, perhaps visiting during the summer (though this coincides with the Olympics - maybe not Tokyo then) or waiting another year or two to make sure the virus isn't recurring. If you are not traveling with young children you might want to consider giving it a shot, but unfortunately for us, it's a no.
How has the coronavirus affected you and your travels? Let me know.
PS: coronavirus has also severely affected our income and business, because it looks like a lot of people are frantic. Might also mean a lot of homes to be put up for sale soon. Who knows?
Yours,
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