Covid, diabetes and foreign holidays

[mkennerley]

Hello fellow diabetics,

We are booked to go on holiday to Greece in mid-August (holiday was booked before Covid in Jan).
The travel company are saying the holiday is going ahead.

As a diabetic I have not been self-isolating but I have been avoiding going out and seeing other people as per the government guidance.
Myself and my wife are not happy about going abroad as we feel this is a bigger risk than staying at home.
It also goes against the uk advice of trying to avoid other people.

I have contacted my Travel Insurance company about cancelling the holiday and they say I cannot claim against the insurance as quote "The FCO says there is no risk in travelling to Greece. No need to isolate on arrival or return."
I agree about the isolation but I don;t think there is "no risk" anywhere in the world.

There does not seem to be much advice on what we should do.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[KN74]

Hello fellow diabetics,

We are booked to go on holiday to Greece in mid-August (holiday was booked before Covid in Jan).
The travel company are saying the holiday is going ahead.

As a diabetic I have not been self-isolating but I have been avoiding going out and seeing other people as per the government guidance.
Myself and my wife are not happy about going abroad as we feel this is a bigger risk than staying at home.
It also goes against the uk advice of trying to avoid other people.

I have contacted my Travel Insurance company about cancelling the holiday and they say I cannot claim against the insurance as quote "The FCO says there is no risk in travelling to Greece. No need to isolate on arrival or return."
I agree about the isolation but I don;t think there is "no risk" anywhere in the world.

There does not seem to be much advice on what we should do.

Thanks,

Mark

Hi Mark

I cancelled my holiday before I had to pay the balance as I did not want to go away anymore( I have Type 1) . My insurance company told me if I got a letter from my G.P or my Diabetes specialist this would help my case. They had no problem giving it to me and actually advised that I shouldn't go abroad. I have sent everything off and am just waiting to hear - but I think that would help your case if you could get a letter. Also its not just about Greece it self its all the other contact with people to get there.

Good luck
Karen

 

[mkennerley]

@KN74 Thanks for the reply Karen. Glad to hear your Travel Insurance company was more understanding.

My doctor has already written a note for the TI company and I am getting them to fill out a Medical Certificate for the TI.
I am worried that the Medical Certificate is all about existing medical issues (apart from diabetes I am pretty healthy) rather than the potential risk I could be putting myself in.

Its nice that Greece is probably the least risky of places to go to but I suppose that is also going against us in trying to cancel the holiday!

Thanks,

Mark

 

[NicoleC1971]

I don't think you will be able to get your money back at this point but you do have the ultimate choice to not go on holiday if you think it is going to be so stressful.
Some things to consider though about the actual risk of staying in your back garden vs. going to Greece on a plane:

Flying
I am sure your airport and airline will have put in place stringent infection controls e.g. temperature checks, social distancing and masks on planes. Not very relaxing but perhaps some reassurance!
However the news that as of today there are only 560 cases diagnosed (and yes I know that some cases go untested) should reassure you further.
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

Greece
There have been 197 Covid related deaths and the case numbers are following a declining pattern:
https://www.google.com/search?q=cov...0j69i57j0l3.5887j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
This suggests a much lower level of underlying infections over there than here hence if you were not keeping their tourist industry going you'd be more a risk to them than the other way around.

You will not be able to eliminate this particular viral risk totally given that the Southern hemisphere rates are experiencing their own peak.
Please bear in mind that whilst diabetes carries a higher risk , age is still the biggest one (risk of mortality for type 2 alone is 0.21% but that is concentrated in those over 70.
(Professor Kar's NHS UK study of Covid in diabetics)

 

[Mr_Pot]

Hello fellow diabetics,

We are booked to go on holiday to Greece in mid-August (holiday was booked before Covid in Jan).
The travel company are saying the holiday is going ahead.

As a diabetic I have not been self-isolating but I have been avoiding going out and seeing other people as per the government guidance.
Myself and my wife are not happy about going abroad as we feel this is a bigger risk than staying at home.
It also goes against the uk advice of trying to avoid other people.

I have contacted my Travel Insurance company about cancelling the holiday and they say I cannot claim against the insurance as quote "The FCO says there is no risk in travelling to Greece. No need to isolate on arrival or return."
I agree about the isolation but I don;t think there is "no risk" anywhere in the world.

There does not seem to be much advice on what we should do.

Thanks,

Mark

It is normal for insurance companies to only pay out if the FCO advice is not to travel otherwise anyone could just change their mind about a holiday and get their money back.
My main concern about going abroad at the moment is what to do if you catch the virus or even have symptoms that might be the virus? How do you isolate and can you get home? I also wouldn't travel without insurance that covered getting the virus while abroad, although you may be alright there if you check. We are going to have a late break in the UK this year, at least we can just drive home if we feel ill.

 

[JRT]

Hello fellow diabetics,

We are booked to go on holiday to Greece in mid-August (holiday was booked before Covid in Jan).
The travel company are saying the holiday is going ahead.

As a diabetic I have not been self-isolating but I have been avoiding going out and seeing other people as per the government guidance.
Myself and my wife are not happy about going abroad as we feel this is a bigger risk than staying at home.
It also goes against the uk advice of trying to avoid other people.

I have contacted my Travel Insurance company about cancelling the holiday and they say I cannot claim against the insurance as quote "The FCO says there is no risk in travelling to Greece. No need to isolate on arrival or return."
I agree about the isolation but I don;t think there is "no risk" anywhere in the world.

There does not seem to be much advice on what we should do.

Thanks,

Mark

I would speak to your Dr and go by their advice. If they were to say go ahead that may help you realistically have a good baseline to make a decision. It does go against the government advice for clinically vulnerable adults. That said individuals have very different approaches ranging from life is for living let's go down the beach/pub/ shops to not going further than their garden. Do what you are comfortable with.
In more usual times if the FO say you can go you have no grounds for cancelling the holiday and getting a refund whether that is amended due to coronavirus is unlikely. A lot of companies are offering to transfer deposits/bookings until 2021. If you would have lost the money anyway you have nothing to lose!
Travel insurance of course is a must. I booked a holiday in February to Italy in September and bought my travel insurance at same time. When everything locked down they contacted me and said that as I had booked pre pandemic I would be covered for Coronavirus and the expenses involved for two weeks isolating in Italy. Not sure what would happen if total lockdown and no flights out for months though!
I'm pretty certain a lot of insurance doesnt cover Coronavirus or if does will be very expensive. Good luck.

 

[lindisfel]

Its the airplane journey that is the most risky with your fellow Brits. D.

 

[porl69]

You will not get any money back if you cancel the holiday yourself, sorry to say.
I am off to Turkey in 9 weeks and it can not come quick enough

 

[Bluetit1802]

Personally, I think anyone with some sort of risky health problems voluntarily travelling abroad, anywhere, is putting themselves at risk. Transport to the airport, hanging about in a busy airport, queuing in a busy airport, touching surfaces millions of others have touched, public toilets, the airplane journey itself, the hoards of people in arrivals grabbing suitcases off the carousel, transport to the accommodation. Then the same on return. It makes me shudder just to imagine it all. On the whole, I would rather lose my money than risk it. We are going on holiday next weekend - in England.

 

[LooperCat]

Well as the UK has the highest infection rate in Europe, I’d jump at the chance to go, but that’s just me

 

[DCUKMod]

@mkennerley - Here is a link to the officie government page on this: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronav...gainst-all-but-essential-international-travel

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

"The FCO says there is no risk in travelling to Greece. No need to isolate on arrival or return."

No risk? Not completely true! You need to go through the relevant advisory pages. I see some URLs are already listed above.

I believe masks are compulsory (good) so there is some risk. I see that there is also some form that has be completed before travel.

 

[JohnEGreen]

I see Spain was on that list.

Things will change from day to day.

 

[Bluetit1802]

People booking foreign holidays over the next few months are taking a big risk. They risk being in contact with the virus during the travelling there and back if not in the actual country, and they risk losing their money if the planes are still flying to that country and therefore not obliged to offer refunds (such as Ryan Air and Jet2 are doing right now with Spain)

 

[HSSS]

People booking foreign holidays over the next few months are taking a big risk. They risk being in contact with the virus during the travelling there and back if not in the actual country, and they risk losing their money if the planes are still flying to that country and therefore not obliged to offer refunds (such as Ryan Air and Jet2 are doing right now with Spain)

Agree, as we’ve all been told things are subject to change, and quickly.
Surely if the fco advice is against travel that is a reason for insurance to pay up regardless of flights being on. I’m sure I’ve read that advice officially somewhere so worth checking if that applies to anyone’s holiday here. I’m refusing to fly so didn’t pay too much attention. A few days U.K. camping in the open air, in a quiet area, walking, cycling, surfing and swimming is my plan. Fingers crossed the weather doesn’t turn it into a soggy nightmare but we all need a change of scenery for mental health after months of being cooped up together.

 

[HSSS]

only 560 cases diagnosed

For clarity only (not argument)

Daily confirmed number not total.
685 today.