Coronavirus worries?

[Carys]

What are my rights with cancelling my holiday do Eurostar, LNER and booking.com offer refunds? My hotel says non refundable will they change for special cases?

Phil, its flattering that you think people here can answer detailed pension and travel insurance/holiday cancellation type questions ;o) however, this is an anxiety forum, why not ask the companies ?

[Carys]

Here's a snippet I thought I'd post here....

Why hasn't coronavirus been declared a pandemic?

On Tuesday the US Centres for Disease Control said it would be a matter of if, not when coronavirus becomes a pandemic.
However the World Health Organization (WHO) said using the word pandemic would signal that the virus cannot be contained which isn't true.
"We are in a fight that can be won if we do the right things," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
"For the moment, we are not witnessing sustained and intensive community transmission of this virus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death."
The WHO argued that China has had fewer than 80,000 cases out of a population of 1.4 billion people and in the rest of the world, there have so-far been 2,790 cases out of a population of 6.3 billion.

[fishman65]

Is that you Fishman? You've crossed to the other side? I've got a spare tin foil hat for you here mate.

Just remember who funded both sides of WW2 to profit. Things like this do happen. 9/11 folks?

This isn't the first time we've been confused and understandably so. No I'm still in the UK, though right now wish I was at a research station in Greenland.

I was reading the posts earlier about risk and it got me thinking about last night when I drove my daughter's friend to the train station. On the way back I thought 'what if he was carrying this virus?' But then I noted I was doing 70mph on the dual carriageway. I then thought 'what if I hit an object or had a blowout at this speed?' The chances are I wouldn't survive and yet I did this without giving it a second thought.

[Kirbear]

What are my rights with cancelling my holiday do Eurostar, LNER and booking.com offer refunds? My hotel says non refundable will they change for special cases?

I don’t know if you’re insured but my insurance policy which I took out ages before this was a worry basically says you’re not covered if you decide to just not go. Basically if flights etc are cancelled and you have no choice then you will be covered (won’t be covered if you go against travel advise either)
Worth reading the small print x

[pulisa]

My fear is some kind of human extinction at worst maybe this is the disease? I fear isolation or borders being closed. Work places becoming shut food shortages and conditions never seen like it since the war. They say there is more cases outside China now so we are all doomed.

You're a solipsist, Phil so no need to fear human extinction.

[Kirbear]

It’s potentially close to me now. Four schools in my nearest city have closed due to 70 kids coming back from Lombardy in Italy on 22nd and two schools in my sisters town closed due to one person potentially having come in to contact with an infected person. I’m afraid of it escalating quickly like Italy and suchlike. Most places that are infected in Europe now have come from Italy. The city is where most of us in our small town go for food, drinks, nights out, cinema, school etc. 7/8 trains daily there and back. A bit too close to home for my liking.

[MyNameIsTerry]

What are my rights with cancelling my holiday do Eurostar, LNER and booking.com offer refunds? My hotel says non refundable will they change for special cases?

That's for the small print but perhaps consider that you are choosing not to use their service whilst others are. Therefore the company hasn't been told there is an issue that means services stop. They will take their steer from the Foreign Office and equivalents abroad.

[MyNameIsTerry]

This isn't the first time we've been confused and understandably so. No I'm still in the UK, though right now wish I was at a research station in Greenland.

I was reading the posts earlier about risk and it got me thinking about last night when I drove my daughter's friend to the train station. On the way back I thought 'what if he was carrying this virus?' But then I noted I was doing 70mph on the dual carriageway. I then thought 'what if I hit an object or had a blowout at this speed?' The chances are I wouldn't survive and yet I did this without giving it a second thought.

Yep, and that's very important to recognise in changing how you think.

On here so many will be worrying if that stranger walking past them might cough on them. The stranger coughing triggers intrusive thoughts and a cycle about this virus. But did you think the stranger could have a knife or when reaching into their jacket for a tissue they could have been reaching for a knife? Some will be.

It's only a matter of the core beliefs we have built just as the story of the two wolves demonstrates.

[Carys]

My fear is some kind of human extinction at worst maybe this is the disease? I fear isolation or borders being closed. Work places becoming shut food shortages and conditions never seen like it since the war. They say there is more cases outside China now so we are all doomed.

Oh my word, Phil, this is the biggest amount of despair, doom and drama I've ever heard you come out with. If this virus is about causing human extinction, its not gonna be doing a very good job, as most people just have very mild symptoms. There are NOT more cases outside China, thats a silly thing to say.

[pulisa]

Maybe a career in "journalism" at the Daily Mail would be a good move for you, Phil? I bet your garden doesn't worry you as much now?