Is it time to reconsider your travel plans due to coronavirus?
Mar 2, 2020, 12:17 PM | Updated: Oct 8, 2024, 7:39 am
Thanksgiving 2022 is expected to be the third busiest travel season on-record, according to AAA. (Don Wilson, Port Photographer)
(Don Wilson, Port Photographer)
Whether or not you’re concerned about the coronavirus, or traveling to a country with a known outbreak, you might want to reconsider your travel plans because of what could happen when you return home.
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Carson*, a rehabilitation director at a skilled nursing facility in the Seattle area, just returned home from a three-week vacation in Thailand. She went into work Monday morning since there were no emails or communication that had told her not to come in, and the director told her to leave once she was there.
She reiterated that she has no symptoms at all, and even offered to wear a mask.
Carson told KIRO Radio’s Gee & Ursula Show that there was no explanation, no time frame given for when she can return.
“I just got back from vacation,” Carson said. “Obviously, I used my paid time off. I asked for a time frame, there was none given.”
Carson said she feels like she’s in “limbo,” and in the meantime, has to take days off unpaid.
“The only thing I can do is wait and see,” Carson said. “I mean, I can go get tested, but the hospital, they’re inundated and reveals don’t come for two days. So [there’s] three days alone, you know, unpaid.”
The thing that Carson said was the most shocking to her about traveling amid fears of an outbreak was there was no scanning when she got back to Sea-Tac Airport. She said they went through Customs, picked up their bags, and left.
KIRO Radio is working to confirm SeaTac’s screening procedures with officials.
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Carson said she was willing to take any precautions, and recognizes she does work with a vulnerable population, but there was no communication on paid time or how long she has to stay home. She is not showing any symptoms.
“A little warning and a little direction would have … made me feel a lot better.”
*Guest asked to not be referred to by her full name
Listen to the Gee and Ursula Show weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
