Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Coronavirus in South Africa

Because I have a trip scheduled in June, I’ve been watching for this. Today I saw a report of the first case.

I'm more concerned about the risk of being exposed on the flights over and back then exposure on the ground. Just think what you would do if flights home were cancelled while you're in Africa or your subject to quarantine when you return home.

Would you go if it was the regular flu that seems to come around every year, in some form or another? I would.
Heard on radio just now that the death rate for corona is roughly 2%. That factors in deaths per known infected. Deaths are easy and accurately reported. Infected people not so much as some are infected and recover nicely without ever being reported. So the death rate is reported as higher than it really is, quite possibly much higher. Unless you already have serious medical complications, the risks are very low.
Your call, but I’m business as usual.

Wont bother me a bit, if anything the airports will be cleaner because of loss of business, they'll probably be spraying you down welcoming you inside.

1st case was reported here in Colorado.

Everyone has to assess their risk tolerance for their particular circumstances. We are scheduled to do a cruise in the mediterranean (Italy, Greece, Turkey, etc.) this fall. I suspect we will postpone that trip until next year and see what 2021 brings.
Currently reported death rate is a bit over 3%, significantly higher for health compromised individuals and as you get older. When you get to the stage where cities go into lockdown mode and large gatherings/events are cancelled, it is not insignificant.

I’m not ready to make a decision yet, but I am concerned and will follow this closely. There are many unknowns.

My best guess is that if Coronavirus gets a good start in South Africa, it is likely to run rampant there. And it is not a place where I want to have a serious illness or be hospitalized. I am in general good health for my age, but I am 78.

I saw on the news last night, about 20% of the population of south africa is/has HIV which may make them more susceptible to infection/serious consequences.

I would talk to my doctor and if he said ok then I would buy trip insurance that would cover cancellations for what ever reason.

I would bring good masks for airports and planes, hand sanitizer and disinfectant, and a dose of tamaflu. Your doctor or the CDC may suggest other preventatives.

It may actually be a good time to fly. No lines and suspect people will be quarantined. Less traffic from countries with a high incidence of COVID-19.

It is very serious and the statistics are skewed now as far as percentage of deaths, by june we should have better data. With more accurate data I suspect the 2-3% death rate will drop. The 80% of cases being non critical or non life threatening is probably accurate.

Africa has it's fair share of deadly diseases Corona may turn out to be relatively minor compared to some of the others. Do get a yellow fever vaccine and ask about anti malarial drugs if you will be anywhere near possible sources. Again check with your doctor and the CDC recommendations.

Just wanted to add that masks are mostly to prevent someone infected from coughing on another person. They may have some limited benefit to the user but not very significant, although it won't hurt.

Good advice and along the lines of my thinking.

Booked tickets to Botswana for our June trip this week.

I completely discount any "data" coming out of China for multiple reasons. I discount 99% of all the "information" being pushed by most of the "talking heads" in the media. I DO listen to the actual medical doctors they put on. The reason I tune out the talking heads is as soon as the actual doctors are finished giving what I believe to be factual information, the freak'n talking head go back to spreading their alarmist BS.

The Reader's Digest version of what the actual medical community is saying at this point is, it seems to be very similar to the other strains of the Corona flu - this one is just numbered 19. All they can ACTUALLY report is the mortality/fatality rates of those who've ACTUALLY been tested and not everybody gets tested because they don't get sick enough to require formal medical treatment. They have NO CLUE how many people may have actually had it, figured they just had the flu and just stayed home and recovered from it just like other strains of flu. The highest mortality rates are among the elderly and those that already have a some preexisting medical condition that compromises their immune system.

Here's a tracking web page from John's Hopkins University Now, keep in mind there are just under 8 BILLION people in the world.

Buy insurance, perhaps Global Rescue.

BTW, South Africa has some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world.

I bought insurance from Ripcord which was offered when I booked with Travel With Guns.

I would almost guarantee these trip insurance companies will find a way to weasel out of covering problems related to COVID19.

I won’t argue with that.

Especially for trips booked after the outbreak started.

"Pre-existing condition. Sorry bud!"

I'm on several hunting and travel websites. Seems that a LOT of people that have purchased travel insurance after 1 Nov 2019 are getting letters/notices that any claims regarding/revolving around Corona 19 are excluded/not covered. Some are saying they are even being offered refunds.

I think if anyone has purchased travel/trip/medical insurance after 1 Nov 2019, it might be a REALLY good idea to contact them and ask. AND, even if the faceless/nameless rep you talk to on the phone says, "No problem, you're covered", I'd be asking for it in writing. As McCray said above, they are going to use it as a "pre-existing condition" as a broad brush even though you probably did not actually have it when you purchased the policy it's just that it's out there in the world.

Ripcord has already issued a statement saying corona cancellations will NOT be covered. Better check with them again....

Wife and I are booked on a cruise out of Venice down the Adriatic Sea and the Greek Isles, returning to Venice from June 12-June 24. Cruise line has already contacted us. If the cruise is cancelled, we get full credit for a cruise of our choice next year. We will go as long as northern Italy isn’t in lockdown.

I haven’t seen that, but I am not the least bit surprised.

Yes the travel insurance companies are pretty weaselly. I wish Lloyds or a more reputable company would provide travel insurance.

Covid-19 is going to get worse before it gets better. June will be in the peak of the southern hemispheres flu season. But it is also the dry season which will reduce the spread. The only real danger is public places, once out in the bush the risks will be low if you avoid contact with obviously infected individuals. SA has many British, German and US trained medical staff as well as from the SA med. schools and excellent facilities. If I had to go to a hospital I would almost rather do it there than here.

Given your age would make me more inclined to go if you can accept the risks. Even though your in the at risk age demographic it is only critical if you have a compromised immune system or other health issues, if not then you are closer to the 80% group that it would be like a bad case of the more common flu but not life threatening. I am getting the pneumonia vaccine as a preventative, last case of the flu I may have gotten pneumonia too which compounded the severity of the symptoms.

Tejano, thanks for your thoughts. I am concerned but not panicked, and plan to continue to watch the situation. There are eight cases in Colorado now, so I might be quarantined in SA because of coming from an infected area. 😃

On the bright side, I have been blessed to hunt in Africa twice before.

More cases here than SA. I hope they implement a system where you can get a check up prior to travel so you could get fast tracked while boarding or disembarking. I would also look into as many VIP passes and pre-boarding clearances as you can get in advance to get out of the longer lines.

Lassa fever is the one that scares me, won't be going to Nigeria anytime soon.

Hope it goes well for you.

My trip from JFK direct to Joberg was 15 hours without AC (South African Air), I wouldn't want to be on that plane if there's a chance someone has the virus. I bought Global Rescue medical insurance in case I got hurt or sick, I did not want a blood transfusion or medical care from people where the AIDS/HIV rate was so high. Good luck.

If they have ONE recognized case, they could be thought as being 1 1/2-2 months behind us and very early in the infection curve. All things being equal such as the weather/environment there being about equal to here for the virus to live and spread (I don’t know that), June, there, could be roughly equivalent to us here now. Can you imagine how it might spread there?

Factor in their government’s capability to respond and the masses to be responsible, their health care capabilities — I do know somewhat of Namibia’s — and, for me, it would be like playing Russian roulette; no way. But I’m also seventy..though in good shape.

Granted, this is speculation. But not pure speculation.

Certainly not pure speculation. There are now 150 cases in SA. What will stop it?

These are some of the reason why I'm not in what I believe to be mostly media driven "panic" mode. The link is to the CDC's report on just the US and the REGULAR seasonal flu and NOT COVID 19. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm

This to their info on H1N1 Swine Flu from 2009 when more than 10K people in the US died BEFORE team O/Biden did a damn thing. https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm

And before that it was H5N1 Bird Flu - https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-people.htm

Don't get me wrong, anyone and everyone who dies from this this is a tragedy. All I'm intending to do is provide similar strains within the general strains of Corona viruses to give comparisons.

Forget about the flu - https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/new...w_third_leading_cause_of_death_in_the_us

Again, just trying to give a little perspective. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm


Edited to add another link - https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17...-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

I will say this again, all I'm trying to get across is I don't believe most of anything I see/watch on "mainstream media" mostly because they all have a VERY poor track record of being correct on nearly EVERYTHING and it has gotten worse in the last few years. Nor do I believe everything "on the web". I try to subject EVERYTHING to a certain degree of healthy skepticism and try to apply critical thinking to all of it. So far, at least for me, this just doesn't all add up. I have suspicions and ideas why all of this is going on but it's just personal opine.

jdollar: Will your cruise line still be in business next year? Same question for your airline who has offered the same deal to re book? I was on a cruise line website offering a 7 day cruise for $84. Just to reiterate seven days for eighty four dollars. Regarding trip insurance, prior to the CV-19 pandemic the list of exclusions was very broad. Now CV-19 is specifically excluded. The only value for trip insurance is for alternate use if you failed to hoard enough TP.

I thought I read SA was denying entry in the country for US citizens.

That is correct. They announced it 3 daysago.

I think they will still be here but no way to know. They are a very upscale, small ship operation (Regent Seven Seas). The business class airfare is part of the total package cost and they book it, not me. So no airline to contact. 10 day cruise cost over 20K, so I sure hope they don’t go belly up!

Any travel whatsoever is unwise now. It doesn't matter how many cases are reported at your destination the Airports are a high contact zone. The number of cases is largely correlated with the number of test as we have seen in the US. Cancel or reschedule at least a month in advance or re-book for next year if you can.

Some lodges and hunting operations are not accepting US clients for the time being. I suggest you communicate with any Africa based outfit.

Trying to get out of Malawi now. Had a flight early this morning to Joburg. Just before we were to get on the bus to go out to the plane, they came and got us and pulled us and our bags. New restrictions in SA overnight...you must have a connecting flight the same day or they send you back or 14 day Q. We were told by the ambassador to get out of Malawi as fast as possible, so we were going to spend the night in Joberg before catching the last ATL direct flight. We're supposedly re-booked for tomorrow. If we don't get out tomorrow, it gets ugly.

Man I feel for you and hope for the best.

Al,
With your age and the international travel involved, I think you're playing against a stacked-deck to go this year...

Your tagline says "Spend your life wisely."
Putting this trip into the future might be the wisest thing you'll ever do.

Take care.

Good advice. I can’t imagine the miracle that would have to occur for me to go. Fortunately, I’ve been to Africa for hunting twice before, so it won’t be the end of the world if I don’t make it back.

I’m not canceling anything yet. As I understand it I have a better chance of getting a refund rather than a voucher if Delta cancels the flight. And I will donate my deposit to the outfitter even if he offers a refund. He’s been good to me and is in a tough spot.

Good man! (Glad I went when I could, even after heart surgery in 2018.)

If you have to have a government advise you not to travel overseas right now or near future.... I shouldn’t write what I’m thinking.

From what I have seen (limited) trip insurance does not cover pandemics. At least it didn't for my wife's trips to Palm Spring and Europe. Check.