Coronavirus Impact: Which countries should you avoid traveling to?

The outbreak of the Coronavirus has already had a global impact. On one hand, there’s some level of panic in the air. Given that we live in the information age, information travels around the world at striking pace. As cases keep rising, we’re seeing real world impacts with flight cancellations and businesses taking a very cautious approach. We’re seeing a clear slowdown in the movement of people.

Coronavirus and Travel

We talk and write about travel all the time. One of the most common questions that’s asked is: which country is safe to travel to after the outbreak of Coronavirus?

We need to look at a couple of data sets. Firstly, where in the world are the maximum number of people affected? Secondly, which other countries have a rising number of cases?

As per this useful tracker by Reuters, we’ve already seen over 81,000 cases of people being affected globally.

Travel Plans

Before you decide which country you should avoid traveling to, ask yourself this question. How urgent and important is your travel? If your travel is non-essential and can be done later, it would be prudent to push it to a later date once things settle back to normal.

In terms of countries affected, China is obviously the country that’s most affected and is where cases of the virus sprung up initially. Multiple countries have already evacuated their citizens and issued advisories against travel to China. Given China’s size and economic impact in the region, other smaller countries in Asia have also felt the impact.

Coronavirus Cases: Current Data

As per this latest report by Fox News, following are some of the countries with the most cases of Coronavirus. While looking at the data points, please note that these are the numbers of cases observed and not actual deaths.

*Updated after the most recent data was released

The Pundit’s Mantra

As per the latest data, close to 98% of the global cases are observed in Mainland China. I hope the list of countries with the number of cases was useful in helping plan your travel. In many countries, there’s also a good chance of the number being higher than those reported, as the pace of data collection may not always match up to the number of new active cases.

As much as we love finding cheap flight deals and mileage runs, it shouldn’t come at the cost of any possible health hazard. As I wrote earlier, unless you really must travel, it would be prudent to keep tracking the most recent data and government issued advisories before making any travel plans to the affected countries or regions. If you already have travel booked to any of the affected countries or regions, please contact your airline and hotel if you intend to cancel. Many travel companies are waiving cancellation fees due to the impact of the outbreak.

Wish you and your family safe travels around the globe!

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