Should the government be more proactive?

Varian I think there seems to be an over reaction, combined with a mistrust of the information being released from the Chinese authorities.

We have recently returned from abroad (not China) and I have a very heavy cold so I have been "self isolating".

My OH has been out and about, mixing as usual with our friends and neighbours, but he has noticed some are keeping their distance more than usual if they know I am down with the lurgy.

One good friend reacted quite badly when he gave her the customary peck on the cheek.

Are we all worrying too much?

I have too GrannyGravy, my mother’s relatives didn’t live near to us, so we regularly travelled to see them, initially we travelled by bus, but later by car.

existing is not living!!!

Longhaul/fast travel is not the only way to have a fulfilling life.
People who think the only way to enjoy life/retirement is to take regular flights/cruises seriously lack imagination.

The alternative to fast travel is not a meaningless dull life..

I am in my sixties, have been travelling to visit relatives since I was in primary school. People have always travelled and always shall continue to travel.

Diseases/viruses have also been around since day dot, I said upthread that I am in the "at risk group" , but we have to live our lives as we see fit, existing is not living!!!

I did say that posters on here did echo a colonial attitute so have alreasy made that comparison.. and it isnt a flattering one FYI

Of course you could use similar arguments for 19th century train travel which brought people (and diseases) together - it’s called progress.....how far could man travel in a day by walking, horseback, train, boat and plane!

Also I wonder if all these altruistic poverty tourists are raking their mini breaks in deprived pockets of the UK
Am guessing not..

I agree M0nica.
If the places you like to visit are (degradingly) grovellingly grateful for any scraps you toss them, then you are not visiting in ways that contribute to dignified sustainable growth

People need to adjust their expectations and plans in line with what we know now

Some people will not consider a plan B. Pigheadded is the perfect term for what is going on with so many peoples attitudes to how they live and travel

True, some people moved when it was seen as a good thing that the "world was getting smaller" but all ex pats I know have the "stay/return home" chat at regular intervals, even if they've been away decades. And we now know enough to factor in that its no longer okay to plan for regular flying as part of your long term life plan.

It is a big issue and it does not prevent other big issues being addressed

It is a very recent thing for people to say that people could "just hop on a flight" to see them when weighing up whether or not to emigrate. Previously people didnt count on annual visits.
You think your annual visit doesnt make an impacy when there are still thoudands of people like you making annual visits?

It needs to be factored in going forward that these annual visits arent a right!

We had relatives thinking of moving to the sun recently who assumed that DSis & I and our families would just continue visiting with similar frequency if they moved abroad. They were most miffed and put out when we said that actually, if they made the move we would see them much less. And we certainly would not be flying there annually. If they wanted to move we would be happy for them and support them and keep in touch, but we would not fly there often. They were shocked. They expected us to say the opposite. (Dsis agreed with us)

That mentality has to change. Moving may be the right decision, but not with an expectation of people "hopping on flights" all the time.

It needs to go back to being weighed up the old way.

I am sorry I disagree. Not every country is able to mount and enforce the strict controls that rich developed countries can.

Travel slowly and gently through somewhere like East Asia - Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, or Indonesia with its hundreds of Islands or the Phillipines likewise. With the best will in the world - and I am sure they would do their best, you could pick up a virus in the capital city and wander 50 miles from that city into a network of tiny villages and peasant farmers or take a boat to a small, off the beaten track island only 50 miles from the capital city and by the time you had become ill enough to be taken to a doctor or taken to a hospital in the nearest town you could have spread it to 100s of people, who would in their turn spread it widely.

My personal opinion is that going abroad to much poorer countries supposedly to see how others live and explore hidden unknown places is akin to treating these people like animals in a zoo. We parade before them a life that to them is unbelievably wealthy look at their houses and lifestyles, comment on their habits and screw the price down when we buy their hand made crafts.

I no longer visit countries like that. I visit countries that are similar in wealth, where I do not get that zoo animal feeling

My son moved abroad nearly 20 years ago, before there was any awareness of issues with travel. I don’t think one flight a year is going to break the world. Let’s look at bigger causes such as rampant consumerism, food miles and so on before splitting families apart.

Its not too late to take lessons for next time and change the entitled behaviours that made coronavirus global

Yes Hetty, I think it’s too late now.

If you zoom out the second (world) map here you'll see the dilemma. Stopping flights from China would be like closing the stable door - when the horse has already bolted:

www.khaleejtimes.com/international/rest-of-asia/live-map-global-spread-of-coronavirus-3-1-2--

With flights people are long gone before they are symptomatic. Making it almost impossible to back track and find all who were exposed. You cannot even narrow it down to a country never mind a region or city

People who moved abroad with the expectation that "its just a flight" nees to have a hard re-think.

Factoring in less flights in the pros and cons of stay/go home

I’m not sure how my son and his family are supposed to slow-travel from the US to the UK to visit family

People need to rethink their normal. Our current level of aviation and cruise use is not sustainable and has caused corona to be a global rather than regional outbreak.

We maintain relationshops with friends and family without seeing them in person every year. When you move abroad it is a consideration. And people shouldnt keep feeling entitled to unlimited air travwl

We have family scattered across the globe, the only feasible way to see them is flying.

Someone taking an unusual and circuitous route somewhere is far more likely to catch and spread a virus compared with someone on a plane or even cruise ship

No theyre not as they are MUCH more likely to become symptomatic close to the source in an area thats already "on alert"

I’m not sure how my son and his family are supposed to slow-travel from the US to the UK to visit family. Canoes, maybe? Is it possible to do the trip in both directions in the maximum two weeks leave a year that many workers in the US have?

Overground travel does not have the same devastating effect on health of the locals as you see in cruise ports at home and abroad. Overground slow travel (and that has nothing to do with slow Vs fast trains) means you are investing in dignified sustainable employment and growth snd people dont have to scrabble gratefully for your crumbs

How does a slow railway journey from London to Marseille invest my money in real viable susainable tourism compared with taking a plane? This applies to almost anywhere in Europe within train travel distance. Fast lines are now being opened to Italy and beyond.

Who. today, has the time and money to get a slow boat to China?

Someone taking an unusual and circuitous route somewhere is far more likely to catch and spread a virus compared with someone on a plane or even cruise ship where there are staff trained in medical surveillance in order to pick up the first sign of anything infectious whether corona virus, norivirus or any other virus and take action to stop it spreading.