Update from Creative Travel India
Thursday March 5 2020 / 10:00 am
On this past Monday when we sent out an update on the Virus, we had Zero active cases. Today on Thursday, that number has gone to 25 active cases. That is still very very low compared to many other countries. (example Italy 3089, Spain 222, USA has 158, Switzerland 90, UK 85, Australia 52, Canada 33).
The 25 active cases are :
- 16 Italian Tourists
- 1 Tour Guide
- 1 from Delhi
- 6 relatives of the Delhi man in Agra
- 1 from Hyderabad
Only 9 Indians. As you can see, these are very spread out cases and far away from each other. They have been able to pinpoint accurately who has the virus and have tested everyone they have met.
India had put in restrictions on flights from affected regions very early on and had started checking those travelers. The government has now started screening passengers from every incoming flight to India. They had already stopped flights from China, and other high-risk countries. Also, all visas for travelers from China, Italy, Iran, Japan and Korea have already been canceled.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that Indians don’t need to panic about the outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus. Speaking with India Today, Dr Rodrico Ofrin, Regional Emergencies Director, WHO, said there is no need to panic, as cases tested positive in India were because of travelling abroad, citizens’ caught the virus on foreign land. (https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/indians-dont-need-to-panic-about-coronavirus-says-who-1652541-2020-03-05)
There are too many rumors and false information being spready on social media of all over the world, not only India.
Tourism to India is still absolutely safe and travelers are arriving every day. All tourist attracts are open and filled with tourists. There is nothing on the ground at this time that will impact travel in anyway.
We do recommend that all travelers (anywhere in the world) follow good precautions that are being recommended by health authorities. Wash your hands, used sanitizing gels, stay away from people with a cold and so on. This is just a different variety of influenza. The biggest problem we have today is Social Media and the fear it is spreading. There is so much fake news that it is making the real situation look very different. This is a fact. The false information is creating unnatural fear.
We at Creative Travel and all our partners put guest safety above all else. If at any point we find a reason to change the itinerary or cancel a service, you will be the first to hear from us. At this stage, all is normal, and travel is happening.
Side Note:
There
is a strong opinion in some medical professionals that India may be relatively
safe from the virus. This is still to be proven and research is going on. The
theory by doctors is that India’s relative safety lies in its weather which
acts as a defence against the virus. That could be exactly the reason why
Ebola, yellow fever, SARS and MERS — which took a high global toll over the
past one decade — had negligible impact on India. After devastating the
countries that have more agreeable climatic conditions, viruses — no matter
however deadly — lose their killer edge once they encounter India’s relatively
high temperature and humidity that make life difficult for them. Viruses prefer
lower temperatures, which is why they have spread speedily in cooler and less
humid areas like Japan and South Korea. In India’s case, an outright outbreak
seems unlikely because of the heat and humidity. “The geographical spread
of nCoV suggests that it has so far been restricted to cooler climates.”.
Three factors determine a virus’ spread — the “agent or the virus itself,
the host and the environment”. While the agent and the host are present
everywhere, India didn’t give the virus an ideal weather condition, he thinks. So,
some scope for hope, with the scorching Indian summer just a few fortnights
away? It’s too early to tell, but the guessing game is already on.