Be Careful - Covid Pos Test result

I'm glad that you are at least able to recover at home. I hope you are feeling better soon.

Happy you made it home. Nicer to be sick at home than in a hotel. We are going the end of May and I'm worrying about a positive test happening.

This isn't the first time I've heard the "test negative, fly home, test positive" scenario. It has me concerned, as my "home" will be with my parents (aged 81, with 4 doses each) and I'm not keen to bring anything back to them. In my situation (retired, insured for reasonable quarantine costs) if I had to choose, I'd rather stay abroad.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Be realistic. Every time you leave the house for any reason or you are exposed to any other person, you could get the cooties. Has nothing to do with travel, it could happen at work, at the grocery store, at a nail salon.

There just don't happen to be forums for people to post "I tested negative, then after I went to Ralphs, I came home and was sick."

well phred, I have to disagree with you. I do not typically go to a very crowded museum in my normal home situation. Airplanes are petrie dishes, and that also has to be considered. I do not believe you can shrug this off as "same as going to your supermarket".

The air on a plane is cleaned and replaced about every 2 minutes. Not sure Petri dish is a correct analogy.

I have traveled well over a million air miles... Throughout my adult life, I got sick on planes way more than anywhere else :-).

Anyway, my point was be careful. I wore my mask, and still evidently contracted covid while in Paris.

A good reminder to be careful and weigh risks, but it can happen anywhere at any time. We just do our best and weigh risks ourselves.

it could happen at work, at the grocery store, at a nail salon.

Yes indeed, however for my individual situation, my 81 year old parents no longer work, have their groceries popped into the trunk of their car (a convenience they've decided they quite like and which they plan to continue into the future) and never were much for nail salons; I (and my travels) are their number one risk, albeit a risk they are willing to take. Still, I'll do my part to further minimize risks, before and after I get back.

Glenn,
I am sorry that you became ill at the end of your trip. I think your advice is sound.
I do think that anyone traveling should understand that they are increasing their exposure to other human beings that may have COVID or influenza or many other "cooties" as someone mentioned above. If you move about around others, you are likely to be exposed.
I have been lucky (and responsible) so far, but I will continue to travel. Vaccinations: check. Follow local protocols: check. Fingers crossed: check. Have Osprey backpack, will travel.

Hi,

This happened to us as I previously reported on this forum. My husband and 3 others on our 6 person tour to Costa Rica got covid. The covid test to come home was a joke. My husband and the 3 other tour members who also tested negative on the test to come home subsequently all tested positive on arrival home and luckily had really mild cases that could have been mistaken for allergies. Thankfully all made quick recoveries. Somehow 2 of us avoided the virus. But we all let our guard down with regard to masking as we had all been vaxxed and boosted and were a small group. We were in a bubble or so we thought. Big mistake. Our next trip we will not let our guard down, keep the masks on, seek out dining options that are outside/ take out and avoid crowds to the greatest extent possible. I have also had the second booster and my husband has the equivalent of one as he had covid. I hope you feel better soon.

Glenn, may I ask please what type of mask you were wearing? As there is some variation in the level of protection different types of masks offer I find it helpful to hear what others have used while still ending up with Covid. Thank you.

Sorry you caught it. Unfortunately, there’s no way to prove you did catch it at the museum, but to your credit you did say you only assumed the museum was where you caught it. It could just have easily been the hotel, mini-mart, taxi, metro, or wherever. At least you’ll know for next time. On our recent London trip we avoided really crowded places to the extent possible. Thanks for reminding everybody that the virus hasn’t finished with us yet.

We were a tthe Orsay in the rain yesterday and felt like fools to have not left. It was pouring rain and 75% of the people in this crowded space were unmasked. We are worried that this stupid decision will have consequences to and we are at the start of our trip with a kid. We had good masks but hers is a cloth kid mask. I am disgusted that crowded venues like museums don't require masking and feel stupid for not having just thrown the ticket away and left when I saw the crowds. (the coat line alone was half an hour)

We had tickets this past Thursday at l'Orangerie and and the Orsay. They sit in front of me unused in our hotel room because that same morning we went to get our mandatory rapid tests for our flight back to DC on Friday. My husband and I both tested postive for Covid and now required to quarantine in our hotel room where we were fortunate to have available to us to extend our stay. We are now waiting for Tuesday for our next available rapid testing at the local pharmacy. We had been vaccinated/boosted before coming to Paris and masking except when eating and when outside during our whole time in here. We did notice at the Louvre the large numbers of unmasked people there and, like Glenn, I was also very surprised.
Until we were tested we had spent many hours in walking all from our hotel to attractions and lots of extra exercise including walking up the Arc de Triomphe and the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower. (We are 58 and 60, btw). We also did a bike tour. There was one day I felt tired but chalked it up to cramming too much in on a week. A minor cough we both had seemed no worse than ones I get from allergies. Well now we know...
I am curious if the recent unseasonably cold and rainy weather in Paris forced many people indoors and maybe led to more positives. The cafes were crammed with people and in retrospect we should have thought harder about maybe getting food to go. However, it was snowing when we landed and not easy to have a picnic at the Seine when the cold wind off the water cut through you or it was raining on you.
Even with this setback, we loved our first (and will not be the last) time in Paris and the wonderful locals we have had the pleasure to meet.

Thanks to all for weighing in on their experiences -- distressful as they may be leading up to our Easter arrival.

Janet: That situation at the Orsay -- and the angst after the fact -- is exactly what we want to avoid. We're staying two weeks and just have to remember not to let our guard down over that time. We won't hesitate to back out of the situations you describe. Best of luck.

rosko4va and Glenn: Based on your experiences we're going to bring more of our test kits than I had planned and test every few days. And we'll buy more there as needed.

Meanwhile, if anyone wanted to start a thread of "I tested negative no problem all was fine..." and then a bunch of people want to say "me too," that would be welcome! ;)

We got back from France yesterday after negative Covid tests on Thursday. We were in France for three weeks, only three of those days in Paris. We masked (KN-95) whenever we were inside except for restaurants, which we ate in 6-7 times. The rest of the time we ate outside (not in crowded cafes) or got takeout which we ate in our apartments. We only went to two museums the entire trip. So we were pretty careful, but mainly we were lucky. You can minimize the risk, but you can’t eliminate it.

Outside of Paris, where it seemed most people wore masks indoors, mask-wearing was spotty. In the Alps region hardly anyone wore masks. Even when people were wearing masks, I was amazed at how many people wore their masks below their noses, and in some cases below their mouths.

Glad you made it home, and hope you are feeling better. Thanks for the warning.

First off, I'm sorry you got Covid-19 during your trip.

We recently returned from 7 days in Paris (3/19 - 3/26). We did not wear masks at all during our trip except for when riding public transportation (metro/buses) as per regulation. We ate out in a restaurant every night, visited stores, etc...all without masks (our choice). We all tested negative in order to return to the USA. None of us felt sick at all after returning home, so felt no need to test at home.

This disease is completely random. There's no telling where one may pick it up.

Businesses are in business to make money, not monitor mask wearing, etc... If the French government has decided that masks aren't required indoors anymore, then people need to make an individual choice to either wear a mask or not enter certain places if they feel uncomfortable, but don't get upset with museums, etc, because they don't have stricter regulations than those required by the government.

I hope that no one else gets Covid, but that's likely unrealistic. I certainly hope that no one else contracts it while traveling...and don't get me started on the requirement to get a test to return home to the USA.

What insurance?

My Nationwide Policy has added new language to my usual travel policy:

1) Hazard means:
c) Any delay due to lost or stolen passports, travel documents or money, Quarantine, hijacking, etc., etc.

2) The Company will pay for Reasonable Expenses incurred by You if Your Traveling Companion must remain Hospitalized
or if You must extend the Trip with additional hotel nights due to a Physician certifying You or Your Traveling Companion
cannot fly home due to an Accident or a Sickness but do not require Hospitalization.

[My emphasis added, in particular to the language requiring a physician's certification, which is an entirely different topic.]

When I searched InsureMyTrip for policies with such quarantine coverage, I found (among others) a policy from Trawick, which turned out to be a more expensive, rebranded wrapper for a similar (not quite identical) policy underwritten by Nationwide. The Trawick policy clearly was marketing the Quarantine coverage, whereas the Nationwide policy did not make it so apparent. But when I read the underlying policy, the less expensive Nationwide policy did cover quarantine expenses.

Moral of that story for me was:
1) Nationwide continues to be my go-to-first policy
2) read the fine print, sometimes you will find it to your advantage

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Nationwide, other than as an insurance customer for traveler's and other insurance, including many, many efficiently covered claims, with remarkable customer service.

Also tested positive day before flight. Now in day 4 of quarantine. Only ones in tour that caught it and we thought we were being very careful. Loads of teens in Florence and Rome on Easter holiday sans masks. Maybe from the hordes - who knows? Gets old being stuck in a 10x10 room. Awaiting 10 day mark so we can get recovery letter.

AA have you considered a different option than going with your Dr. from home that insists on the "10 day rule?"

I'm so very sorry to hear you tested positive but hope your symptoms are mild and you make a quick recovery.

We did test positive prior to our flight home (now rebooked) so I'm a little envious that you were able to get home (I miss our cats!)

One note- while omicron was highly contagious, the ba2 variant is even more contagious - I think that has thrown a wrench in things. Mentioning that only because I have heard 3 friends in NY just tested positive and their only outings are for groceries and essential services as they now work at home - and their outings have been masked (surgical masks not kn94 or n95).

Stay safe everyone, let's keep dreaming of travel even if we aren't completely there just yet!

“Is there a sufficient amount of plexiglass surrounding each table where we might be unmasked?”

clay, I have never seen that anywhere in Paris or in the San Francisco Bay Area. Plexiglass is expensive-ish, I doubt any restaurant anywhere has encased every table in it.

“Is there a sufficient amount of plexiglass surrounding each table where we might be unmasked"
It is now being said that the plexiglass barriers are not good, because they trap air rather than allowing good flow.

I wear an N 95 mask on the plane. And a museums or other places where it’s crowded I wear a KN 95 mask.

You need to upgrade your mask from your basic surgical mask to protect you the surgical mask and the cloth mask protect others from you but you’re going to have to be a little more aggressive nowadays to protect yourself from people who think they wearing a mask is such an inconvenience

Of course for years I traveled every week, and I do not buy the theory that the airplane is the most dangerous place in the world. Because I’m I’m rarely sick. If the airplane was the germ factory people say it was I would have been sick every week.