Lisa Scimens and her husband John Moss were elated in early May to finally be going on a European odyssey to celebrate their 30th anniversary. They had planned to do the trip in March 2020 before the pandemic killed the voyage.
The Oakland couple left May 8 to spend nine days in Paris, followed by a week in Berlin, and two weeks in London.
But what started off as the perfect trip, ended up with Scimens and Moss quarantining in a hotel in Germany with COVID-19, uncertain of when they can get home.
As travel ramps up for the summer, tourists are negotiating how to safely navigate COVID abroad and finding the pandemic still has the power to upend plans and spoil vacations.
“Travel is still a little bit bumpy right now,” said Deb Siegle, a travel agent in Belmont. “But if you’re feeling uneasy, (I tell clients) let’s start planning for 2023, so there can still be something to look forward to.”
Less than two weeks into the trip, Scimens and Moss were in Berlin when Moss, 66, felt a bad head cold coming on. Two days later, Scimens, 59, started to get a runny nose and cough.
The Oakland couple, who are fully vaccinated and double boosted against COVID-19, shared one more memorable dinner at Tim Raue, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Berlin, before Scimens’ symptoms worsened.
The next morning, on May 21, they took at-home COVID tests. Both were positive. They went to a COVID clinic two blocks away to test again and be certain. Positive.
They’ve been stuck in isolation at their hotel in Berlin ever since, their journey derailed. And Scimens is warning others that this might not be the best time to travel.
“Please wait,” she wrote in an email. “The world will still be here once COVID is really under control.”
To return to the U.S., all travelers 2 and older must present a negative COVID test taken within one day of departure or, for people who have recovered from COVID-19 but are still testing positive, they can return to the U.S. with a positive test result and “documentation of recovery,” which includes a letter from a health care provider or public health official that clears you to travel.
Bay Area travel agents like Siegle say that they are advising clients if they do travel to pack extra masks and plenty of prescription medications. They also advise travelers to wear a mask inside and avoid crowded indoor spaces.
Siegle said despite the risks, people want to travel because they feel “cooped up.”
Chris Elliott, a consumer advocate who specializes in travel, said he’s hearing about more and more travelers who get COVID while on a trip, but there are no reliable statistics on how common it is.
He said travelers should know the risks and review the State Department travel site before they leave. He agreed with Siegle that travel insurance and medical evacuation coverage, if possible, is the way to go. If you’re high-risk, stay closer to home or don’t travel, he advised.
Seasoned travelers
Scimens, a retired ABC 7 executive producer, and Moss, an attorney for a tech company, told The Chronicle that before the pandemic, they traveled all around Europe, and to Japan, China, Singapore, Bali, South America and Mexico.
They don’t have any preexisting conditions that increase their COVID risk, Scimens said, and they are “very healthy normally.” But she acknowledged that they are in an older, more vulnerable age group and knew it was possible they could catch the coronavirus. She said many of their friends have taken trips to Europe since mid-March, and several got COVID.
(What if you get COVID during your summer trip? Here's how to minimize travel risks.)
From dream to quarantine
Still, they were determined to go. The couple celebrated their anniversary in Paris, visiting the major sites and eating great food.
Scimens believes they were infected in Paris, because “it was rare to see anyone with a mask, except for Uber drivers.” She said they were among just a few people masked inside two museums they visited, and train passengers from Paris to Berlin were mostly maskless too.
Once in Berlin, the couple splurged on a five-star hotel, she said, so quarantining hasn’t been bad.
Still, Scimens has been surprised by how relaxed the staff has been, even after knowing their diagnosis. She said her husband always warns room service and housekeeping staff they are sick with COVID, and 90% of the time they still show up maskless. Front desk receptionists also don't wear masks, she said.
On Thursday morning, Scimens said, she woke up feeling worse. She was “coughing a ton.” Her husband called the front desk and asked for a doctor.
The doctor arrived at the hotel and determined Scimens had bronchitis. “He gave me a shot of cortisone, to protect my lungs, and a prescription for antibiotics along with two other medicines.”
While her husband has been working the past few days, Scimens has been reading to pass the time.
Some words of advice
When the test results came in, Scimens said she and her husband were “both disappointed, but kind of expected it given how ‘C'est la vie’ everyone seemed to be.”
She said they’ll plan to only do road trips in California for the foreseeable future.
“We live in a beautiful state and we never get tired of exploring it,” she said.
Scimens said the couple did not purchase travel insurance and have been able to change their reservations and flights without issues. The only non-refundable part of the trip was a Cotswalds garden tour. She’s hoping the company owner will allow her to return next year.
As far as possibly continuing their trip after they recover, Scimens said she’s a realist.
“We will both be on a plane back to our comfortable home in Oakland, our young adult daughter and our two loveable King Charles cavalier spaniels, as soon as we have a negative antigen test,” she said.
Annie Vainshtein contributed to this report
Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang
COVID-19 - Latest - Google News
May 28, 2022 at 06:03PM
https://ift.tt/4C1n7yo
An Oakland couple took the trip of a lifetime. Then COVID stranded them abroad - San Francisco Chronicle
COVID-19 - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/VeHkh8C
No comments:
Post a Comment