corona virus alerts - Latest cruising Information for vessels/locations/rules

[Pelagic]

"So far".......

[delmarrey]

Thanks! I let the friends and family on FB know about this BS.

[Lake-Effect]

Did we have any warning that such a pandemic could happen? Um, yes, in 2006:

https://www.ted.com/talks/larry_bril...cs?language=en

... and here's his current thoughts:


The Doctor Who Helped Defeat Smallpox Explains What's Coming

Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who warned of pandemic in 2006, says we can beat the novel coronavirus—but first, we need lots more testing.

The world is not going to begin to look normal until three things have happened.

• One, we figure out whether the distribution of this virus looks like an iceberg, which is one-seventh above the water, or a pyramid, where we see everything. If we're only seeing right now one-seventh of the actual disease because we're not testing enough, and we're just blind to it, then we're in a world of hurt.
• Two, we have a treatment that works, a vaccine or antiviral.
• And three, maybe most important, we begin to see large numbers of people—in particular nurses, home health care providers, doctors, policemen, firemen, and teachers who have had the disease—are immune, and we have tested them to know that they are not infectious any longer. And we have a system that identifies them, either a concert wristband or a card with their photograph and some kind of a stamp on it. Then we can be comfortable sending our children back to school, because we know the teacher is not infectious.

And instead of saying "No, you can't visit anybody in nursing home," we have a group of people who are certified that they work with elderly and vulnerable people, and nurses who can go back into the hospitals and dentists who can open your mouth and look in your mouth and not be giving you the virus. When those three things happen, that's when normalcy will return.

In short - testing, testing, testing.

[smbdyiam2]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Did we have any warning that such a pandemic could happen? Um, yes, in 2006:

https://www.ted.com/talks/larry_bril...cs?language=en

... and here's his current thoughts:


The Doctor Who Helped Defeat Smallpox Explains What's Coming

Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who warned of pandemic in 2006, says we can beat the novel coronavirus—but first, we need lots more testing.

In short - testing, testing, testing.

And those that are immune cannot carry virus on hands and clothing?

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Not addressed at you... addressed at Morrison..No s*** Sherlock!

Ha, learning something new everyday.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by smbdyiam2

And those that are immune cannot carry virus on hands and clothing?

If they (eg dentist, dr, etc) themselves are not sources of contagion, and they observe normal professional levels of hygiene and cleaning when arriving, between patients, etc, then it's very unlikely that they would transmit virus.

[Woodland Hills]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

If they (eg dentist, dr, etc) themselves are not sources of contagion, and they observe normal professional levels of hygiene and cleaning when arriving, between patients, etc, then it's very unlikely that they would transmit virus.

Then why has my dentist closed her office for the duration and donated her masks, gowns and other PPE to the hospital? Perhaps she feels that “very unlikely” is not a high enough standard when dealing with a fatal disease.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

Then why has my dentist closed her office for the duration and donated her masks, gowns and other PPE to the hospital? Perhaps she feels that “very unlikely” is not a high enough standard when dealing with a fatal disease.

She's considering the social distancing imperative right now.


You've taken this out of context. The comment and my response came from considering Dr Brilliant's explanation of how immune professionals will get back to work, AFTER the peak is over, the majority of the population are no longer susceptable, and there are some effective treatments available. Not now.

[DefinitelyMe]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

The common cold is a coronavirus and we have been making jokes about finding a cure for it for ever and ever. Do not think that a vaccine will be easy to develop or will be 100% or even 75% effective. And don’t think that once you have survived the COVID19 virus you will have immunity. You might but no one knows at all. It’s only been a matter of weeks since the first survivors began appearing in China. Too soon to know.

That's not quite right. SOME common colds are caused by coronaviruses, of which there seven major categories, including those that cause 'common colds' as well as much more serious illnesses like SARS and MERS.

Creating a vaccine for a single strain of coronavirus, which is what we're needing now, is difficult, but much, much easier than 'curing the common cold', which can be caused by one of four common coronaviruses as well as rhinoviruses and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

One of the reasons that we get fewer colds the older we get (in general) is that we do develop immunities to some of the viruses that we've encountered earlier in life. We are all in fact familiar with this phenomenon though we might not have given it any thought: "oh don't worry, I've already had it".

[Montanan]

The details of the travel restrictions across the USA border with Canada and Mexico are still being negotiated. There is a mad rush for persons to get on the "proper" side of their borders which definition of proper is very much personal decision. For example, parents are trying to get their kids back from colleges to be family together. There be about 900,000 Canadians with work visas in the USA and likely a vast number of Americans with work visa in Canada and each has to determine which side of the border they will wish to ride this out. And of course ditto for Mexicans and Yanks on the south border.

The State Department and the Immigration service have shutdown face to face office visits for processing the routine 3 year visas so the routine of returning to one's home country to reapply for a renewed visa has been disrupted.


Defining essential is not an easy issue. Clearly recreation and tourism is non-essential, so the snow birds and vacationers are in need of returning ASAP or they could be precluded from reentry to their home country because their countries borders could be shut to them. Loads of Canadians headed north on the interstate highways in Montana trying to back into Alberta and Saska and BC. The Snowbirds usually come through in a burst at the end of the month of March and the end of April so as to be able to qualify for the request days of residing in Canada and still maintain Canadian social benefits. Loads of RV and pickup trucks pulling 5th wheeled trailers.

Heard the POTUS briefing this morning and one of the speakers indicated that the North American borders will become hard to cross limited to the defined essential travel only at ALL ports of entry, [land, sea and air]. Will be interesting to see how they deal with repatriations of their citizens.

[delmarrey]

There is more then one strain of the corona virus now.....


.

[Montanan]

Canada / Mexico / USA border non-essential travel restrictions, all ports of entry, land / sea / air.

In the latest effort to tighten travel restrictions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Trump has ordered the closure of the border between the U.S. and Mexico to all but essential travel. This move follows an announcement earlier this week that both America and Canada agreed mutually to close their shared border to non-essential travel for at least 30 days, while it remains open for urgent, necessary business and commercial traffic.

Trump had also already taken steps to minimize border crossings at the Mexican border, taking additional steps to block migrants and asylum seekers on top of what measures are are already in place, as reported by CNN earlier this week. The U.S. also issued a “do not travel” warning to its own citizens on Thursday, which broadly advises against traveling to any international destination. Trump has also said that internal travel restrictions are not out of the question pending the pandemic’s progress.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the closure of the U.S.-Mexican border on Friday, noting that it was decided in collaboration with the Mexican government. Earlier on Friday, Trump said that the U.S. and Mexico are suspending “non-essential travel,” not related to trade and commerce, education, and medical purposes, at all ports of entry, which mirrors the moves made with Canada. He added that Mexico is also suspending air travel from Europe, which will help “protect the southern border” of the U.S., as well.

Trump added that both the Canadian and Mexican borders are being treated equally in this instance, in terms of the actions taken to limit cross-border travel. The border closure between the U.S. and Mexico will take effect beginning on Saturday, March 21st.

On Saturday at midnight, the U.S. will also implement “CDC recommendations” to immediately institute blanket refusal of entry for anyone on both the northern and southern U.S. border that does not have proper documentation for lawful entry. This replaces the existing practice of processing and holding in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities at the border those attempting to cross. Trump later clarified that all attempted border crossing individual will be returned to their original country of citizenship.

It’s an extreme step, and the White House claims that it’s been made to address the fact that border facilities are unable to follow CDC best practices for avoiding COVID-19 transmission while continuing to deal with migrants in the existing manor. This does mean blanket rejection even of individuals seeking political asylum and refugee status, however, which has dangerous connotations in terms of compassionate and human rights-related entry.

Still, National Institute of Health representative and White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci noted in Friday’s briefing that in order to ensure that border closure measures are effective, they must apply equally to all means of entry to the country.

[Vingt-Knots]

We have a new Moody 45DS waiting for us in the Hanse/Moody yard in Greifswald Germany. We were to travel over this last week and do the first sea trials and then have the boat transported by SevenStar over to Bonaire. First we cancelled the trip to Germany last Friday on fear of not being able to fly home, at that point Europe was still open but we kinda saw the writing on the wall. Having to forgo the sea trails in Germany, we then switched seeing the finished boat for the first time in Bonaire in mid April. Not really a bad place to do the first trails, we have a house there so we could do a series of day trips if we wanted to. We did visit the boat when it came out of the factory in early January, but it had not been commissioned, so it was on the hard with no mast. Well then Bonaire went into full lock-down, so that first meeting was also put off. SevenStar was still able to move the boat until yesterday, then we learned various restrictions in the Baltic Sea region meant the boat could not be sailed from Greifswald down to Antwerp. So at this point we have no idea when will see it. But our little inconvenience is small compared to those suffering from, or who have lost someone to the Corona Virus. We are at home and safe and sound for the time being at least in Canada. Stay-Safe.

[Montanan]

Entry/exit requirements

Restriction of all non-essential travel between Canada and the United States

To limit the spread of COVID-19, American and Canadian authorities announced the temporary restriction of all non-essential travel across the US-Canada border until further notice, as of midnight March 21, 2020.

As a result, you will not be allowed to cross the border for recreation or tourism. However, if you cross the border daily to do essential work or if the reason for your travel is essential, you will be able to enter the country. The border will remain open for trade activities such as supply chains of food, fuel and medicine.

If you are currently travelling in the United States:

Consider returning to Canada as soon as possible
Expect longer wait time at border crossing points
Comply with any restrictive measures and directives issued by local authorities such as self-isolation and quarantine orders
Contact your airline or tour operator regarding your travel plans

[Montanan]

Canadian travel guidance.

http://https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states

Note that there are both EXIT and ENTRY BANS being imposed. So you might wish to depart but not be allowed to depart.

Coronavirus disease
In an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), most governments have implemented special entry and exit restrictions for their territory. Before travelling, verify if the local authorities of both your current location and destinations have implemented any specific restrictions related to this situation. Consider even your transit points.

Restrictions imposed could include:

Entry bans, particularly for non-residents
Exit bans
Quarantines of 14 days or more upon arrival, regardless of where you are arriving from
Health screenings
Border closures
Airport closures
Flight suspensions to/from certain destinations, and in some cases, all destinations
Suspensions or reductions of other international transportation options
Additional restrictions can be imposed suddenly. Airlines can also suspend or reduce flights without notice. Your travel plans may be severely disrupted, making it difficult for you to return home. You should not depend on the Government of Canada for assistance related to changes to your travel plans.

Monitor the media for the latest information
Contact your airline or tour operator to determine if the situation will disrupt your travel plans
Contact the nearest foreign diplomatic office for information on destination-specific restrictions
Foreign diplomatic offices in Canada – Global Affairs Canada

Every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders. The Government of Canada cannot intervene on your behalf if you do not meet your destination’s entry or exit requirements. Meaning Hotel California rules may apply, a.k.a. you can check in but not leave. Eagles greatest hit song.

We have obtained the information on this page from the authorities of the United States. It can, however, change at any time.

Verify this information with foreign diplomatic missions and consulates in Canada.

If you are travelling to the U.S. territory of American Samoa, verify its entry and exit requirements prior to travelling. American Samoa retains oversight of its own borders.