Greenheart Travel’s #1 priority is our travelers’ safety, both before and during each traveler’s program. With the recent news surrounding the coronavirus outbreak in China, we wanted to take a moment to address any questions or concerns you or your friends and family may have, and how this could affect you as you plan to travel abroad in the future.
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that affect both animals and humans. The virus that originated from Wuhan, China in December, is being called novel coronavirus (nCoV or Covid-19), and causes similar respiratory symptoms as a cold or the flu, which is why it can be hard to diagnose. The exact source of this virus is not yet known.
Due to safety concerns both from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the US Department of State (DOS), we have suspended programs in China until the situation is under control. Until the US Department of State’s Level 4 Do Not Travel Advisory for China expires, we will not send travelers there or travel there ourselves. If the DOS were to issue a Level 4 Advisory for any other country, we would cancel programs to that country at that time as well. Although this virus is present in over 30 countries worldwide, including the US, there are no extra safety concerns or DOS travel advisories for travelers or ex-pats in those countries outside of normal flu precautions. We will continue to run programs as long as there are no serious safety threats and/or no serious travel advisories from the DOS and CDC.
For those traveling over the next few months, we do recommend booking flights without layovers in China. Many countries have put in place mandatory quarantines for anyone who has spent time in mainland China, even just a few hours, so it’s best to avoid these itineraries.
Our in-country staff are continually monitoring the situation and plan to take any precautions necessary should the virus threaten the safety of students, teachers, or volunteers. Again, at this time the virus is not affecting Greenheart Travel’s programs outside of China and they will continue as scheduled.
We, of course, cannot predict the future; however, we expect that the coronavirus will no longer be an issue after flu season ends, which is usually in April. Luckily, this means that travelers can make plans now to travel this summer and fall worry-free. We will continue to stay in close contact with our in-country staff and adhere to the US Department of State travel advisories and the CDC, and should other countries be deemed unsafe for travel, we will suspend our programs in those countries as well.
If Greenheart Travel cancels your program due to the coronavirus, we will refund the program fees paid to Greenheart Travel in full, or we will offer the option to defer to a later date or switch to a different destination, when possible, for no additional costs.
In all the years we have been in business sending students, teachers, and volunteers abroad, we have seen and heard countless reasons for someone to not go abroad, because the truth is, there’s never going to be the perfect time to go. We are here to cheer you on and to be your travel voice of reassurance! We understand it can be scary, especially with the current media coverage, so we are in continual contact with our in-country staff to monitor any situation on the ground and would never send someone abroad where we ourselves wouldn’t go – our Chief Operating Officer just got back from a trip to Southeast Asia!
If you or your family have any other questions or concerns about your travels with Greenheart Travel, do not hesitate to reach out to us at travelapplications@greenheart.org or your program manager.