What would you do?

I would definitely talk to the guide.

I'd talk to the guide so they can request the person that is coughing take a COVID test immediately. You don't have to feel like a 'karen' for trying to protect your health.

It's unlikely not to have been noticed, but the guide needs to know its a problem. It is against the rules, so if they don't enforce it, the company may have a problem with the guide. It could be a lot of things besides COVID that are equally detrimental to the health of the group.

Mention it to the guide and be forceful in a pleasant way. You should not be experiencing any angst on a RS Tour.

I would definitely mention it to the guide on the down low. I've noticed the most recent, or two most recent, RS Tours weekly reports reiterate the rules about mask wearing and following the instructions of the guide, leading me to wonder if there have been some uncooperative people on recent tours.

You’re right to be aware of the mask compliance, and concerned about a participant who’s displaying the heavy coughing symptoms. Under the circumstances, with a pandemic affecting travel policies, rules are there for a reason, and members of a group owe it to themselves, as well as the rest of the group, to determine if they need to seek any curative treatments, and to assure that they wouldn’t infect the group with Covid-19, of all things. Getting a test now would be the least they could do, to reassure the group, guides, driver, and everyone else they contact, as well as to have meaningful information about their own health. You and your husband aren’t the only ones affected if someone in the group is severely sick - the rest of the participants may be wondering about the person coughing up a storm, and if they aren’t taking any action to protect themselves, and others, you’ll be doing them a favor, as well. Hope all goes well, and the tour continues with safety and awareness at the forefront.

Hello Mary,

Yes, please let the guide know and they will have the tour member take a test. I will also leave a note for the guide!

Thank you for being aware,

Julianne at Rick Steves Europe

You asked "What would you do?"

First, I would not hesitate to speak discreetly but frankly to the tour guide about your concerns, and share what you have observed. They should be watching, but they can't be everywhere and seeing everything all the time.

I would also be self-testing every day or two. And wishing that everyone else was, too.

I recently returned from a 3-week trip (not Europe) and I tested every 2 or 3 days while traveling. When you are out and about, you definitely ARE mixing and sharing air with strangers, some of whom are not being careful at all. Test kits are cheap (in fact, free, for most of us), easy to use, and while they're not perfect, they are a useful tool.

Given how highly transmissible the current variants are, I'm a little surprised that those with skin in the game aren't requiring daily or at least frequent ongoing tests from customers who are exposed to so many strangers and then sharing air in an enclosed space. I know, there are many things they have to weigh and balance, still, maybe something for the suggestion box...

Thanks everyone and Julianne from RS Europe. I will mention it to the guide in the morning. This person is sitting at the back of the bus and the guide is in front so may not be aware of the coughing. It may be something innocent like an allergy but my husband had a slight tickle cough in Costa Rica that turned out to be covid. We can’t be too careful.

My concern is with the tour guide. The fact that you had to ask her to reiterate to the tour members the correct masks to wear would make me nervous. That reminder should have been communicated at the beginning of that first meeting, not the next morning.

Your job is to enjoy the tour. You should not have to remind a tour guide to enforce Covid protocol, and unless the tour guide is stone deaf, a tour member “coughing up a storm” should be heard at the front of the bus. We’re not talking about a vehicle the size of a 747. If that person has already been tested and was determined to be negative, perhaps informing the other tour mates would ease their fears.

My tour is coming up in a few months, and if faced with the same situation, I would be be very uncomfortable. Please let us know how great your tour ends up being. Happy travels!

So it turns out the tour member has asthma hence the coughing. The guide knew this but for privacy reasons was not able to communicate this to us at the outset. All was revealed to the group this morning.

A person can have asthma and Covid at the same time. The individual should have a Covid test.

You can’t be careful enough….nor can EVERYONE in and around the tour!
I was scheduled to fly home from Milan,Italy tomorrow morning and was required to take a COVID test 1 day prior to departure. A bad morning for me…and my wife. I tested positive and can’t travel/fly and more for somewhere 7 to 10 days minimum.
My wife this morning tested negative fortunately but now my positive test hangs over her and when we can legally fly/travel again.
We were part of a RS tour where 2 people tested positive in Italy and could not go on the tour. Upon completion of the tour we were then notified a tour member had , like me now, tested positive trying to fly home.
My wife and I are active, fit , previously healthy and experienced travelers including several RS tours. We have followed the RS Company and information completely for months prior to out tour…and felt we had the knowledge and information necessary to make the decision…travel with the potential risks or postpone to travel When it MAY be safer.
We’ve had a great experience pre tour…tour…and post tour but the positive test 1 day before our departure home is a real blow…and I/we now need to navigate the ever changing testing and legal requirements to get home. Then there is /will be the expensive claims and more.
Bottom line…knowledge before action and weight the risks rewards of traveling…and make sure you’ve got a back up plan with the ability to pay for it.
“Keeping on Traveling”…or ?
COVID has not gone away!

Thank you for posting this experience...sincere thanks!
I agree that you should not have had to remind the guide to enforce what was promised to you (tour members wearing proper masks). I also have an issue with the guide waiting until the next day to tell everyone.....could have slipped a note under the hotel room doors.....so did they all return to their rooms to get "proper" masks that morning, or did they go thru that day with some wearing improper ones?

I also agree asthma guy should also get a covid test, just in case. And, it would have been gracious for HIM to tell everyone of his medical condition (so the guide would not feel he/she had to protect his health privacy). But, again, he could have explained his asthma and then also assure everyone that he is testing himself each day, too, (if he were being kind enough to do that). Yeeesh.

Yep, it is definitely a strange time in which to travel. I was close to thinking about booking a tour of some sort for late 2022 or early 2023, but reading what some travelers are experiencing (on many different brands of tours) and the risk of testing positive and being stuck..................well, not ready yet. Heck, we have not even dined inside a restaurant here at home.....and we have both vaccines and both boosters. As my spouse tells me, I/we need to take some baby steps first.

That said, life is short....so no judgement on those of you who are comfortable with the restrictions/risks of travel. We all have to decide what is right for us while being responsible/courteous to those around us.

Again, thank you, Mary. I wish you a completely covid-free experience and ditto for your travels home.
Let us know how the rest of the tour plays out, please.

Ron, thank you for sharing your experience, too. I wish you a speedy "recovery" to test negative soon, and I hope your wife is able to avoid a positive test.

I, too, hope those of you who have tested positive continue to feel okay and are able to fly home soon!
We are scheduled on a RS tour (our 3rd) this September. Several years ago my traveling companion was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma (pre-cancerous) and had to have surgery to remove skin from her nose. Fortunately, the surgery removed all the pre-cancerous cells. Unfortunately, it left her with much constricted nasal passages, which has resulted in a lot of post nasal drip -- which can manifest as coughing. I have told her I think she needs to let our tour group be aware of her condition at the very first meeting. She has said "a group of strangers don't want to hear about my medical history," but maybe Mary's experience will convince her to speak up. I also hope that our fellow tour members don't take the mindset of "you can have both post surgical complications AND Covid" and require her to test every day, just in case. We are both exceedingly cautious, wear N95 or kn95 masks whenever we are indoors in crowded areas, have been vaccinated/boosted, and even have access to/utilize as necessary employer-offered pcr testing for non-symptomatic individuals (prior to travel, medical procedures, etc.). Of course we will test before we fly and again prior to our tour. Of course we will wear masks whenever we're on the bus. Of course we want everyone to be safe. But if someone has shared that they have a documented medical condition that causes them to cough, and that person is always wearing an N95 mask on a bus, I would hope that person wouldn't be singled out as a pariah and be forced to test daily and/or be shunned by their tour mates.

Related content provided by the RS company is here:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/on-the-road-reports

Privacy has been such an increasing issue - for medical and other information (how many privacy disclosures have you had to agree to recently?) - but close-knit group travel involves some special circumstances. A group could’ve been assured that a participant didn’t have Covid, without disclosing what they did have.

Hopefully this all goes OK as the tour continues.

My Italy tour starts in a few weeks. I agree that concerns regarding masks and another tour member's health should be brought discretely to the tour guide.

I do not feel, however, that someone else's medical conditions are anyone else's business. I'm hoping the tour guide simply stated that the coughing tour member had a legitimate medical reason and not told the rest of the group about specific medical conditions like the asthma. I don't know why, but some of the responses here definitely rubbed me the wrong way. Are there tour members that will expect me to give my medical issues and preexisting conditions at the welcome meeting just in case I look a little sweaty or if I have to blow my nose because occasionally because of allergies?

I guess that my attitude is that I will be in the correct mask; I can't worry about others. I wouldn't want to sit next to a person unmasked while eating if they appeared sick. In all fairness, though, I'm a teacher, so I've had to deal with mask issues and students coming to my classroom while visibly sick for the last two years. Maybe I'm just used to it.

Rant over :)

Kristen

We are currently on a RSE tour. We noticed one day that several people were not wearing masks on the bus. I was sitting there muttering about it, and my husband went up and discreetly told our guide. The guide said "What, again?" and came back to our section of the bus to tell people to mask up.

And this was just one day after we had been told that two tour members had had to leave because one of them had tested positive for Covid!

No quandary; everyone on the tour knows the rules.

Maybe it's because I work in healthcare, but if a tour guide announced my medical condition to ANYONE that was not directly impacted by it I would be furious.

Yes, if I get covid you will have to tall others they have been exposed, but they need to know NOTHING else.

And for those of you who really think that since someone has an allergy they should test daily I would say that perhaps a tour is not a good choice for you. You have to accept some risk traveling on a tour where you will be with people a lot in a space like a bus. If you are going to be that concerned then it's probably not a good choice right no.

A person can have asthma and Covid at the same time. The individual should have a Covid test.

Indeed. And, to be awkwardly blunt, a person can also be in denial and just oblivious, and a person may not be telling the truth.

I assume (and hope) that in a case like this, there is some kind of official documentation of the person's condition, not just a "we'll take your word for it". Of course, continue to treat that person with respect and kindness, there's no need to disclose anyone's specific medical history to the entire group, but the axiom of "trust but verify" should be applied. And in any case, if someone is exhibiting symptoms, they need to be tested (regardless of their medical history or any given explanation) to ensure it's not their known medical condition plus COVID..

I'm not suggesting that this individual (the one with asthma and who was coughing) was not being truthful, and their condition needs to be handled discreetly and with respect to their privacy. But there is the possibility that they are COVID positive, and there is a lot at stake. Plenty of people are oblivious to the fact that they have COVID and are actively spreading it (one can simply be asymptomatic, just clueless, in denial, willfully dishonest, or some combination -- we know that happens, we have even seen people on this forum confessing to all of those things...and that's among a self-selected group that I think is usually quite careful, very considerate, and generally trying to do the right thing). Not everyone is so responsible 100% of the time. Testing is cheap, quick, easy, painless, and can help confirm what we all hope is the case (that the person in question is negative).

I hope everyone remains healthy, COVID-free, behaves responsibly, and nobody around you tests positive. That's how we get to continue to enjoy traveling. Remember what things were like previously during the depths of the pandemic, appreciate and help preserve our ability to go and experience Europe.

My guess is that the guide asked the person with asthma if it would be okay to tell the group.

I've been following a number of cruise-related boards lately. The overwhelming attitude i see expressed on the cruise boards is that relaxing masking requirements and testing requirements is a great thing. In fact, if you suggest otherwise, you're post will likely be taken down, being deemed as "political".

Compare that to the opinions on the RS boards and you begin to realize that RS attracts a very different customer than the cruise lines. Certainly not all RS travelers voluntarily comply with masking rules, but it seems that most RS travelers "get it".

I've always been aware that there are differences between "cruise people" and "RS people". But the difference is very much reinforced when it comes to common sense health measures during an ongoing pandemic.

I think your concerns were valid, Mary. And being blocked before or after a tour is disconcerting. This makes me wonder what could happen at the end of our transatlantic next winter if we test positive as the ship pulls into our US port. Will we have to quarantine in some hole three levels below the waterline for ten days?

The good news: we tested negative today for a flight to the US. Our kids were negative two weeks ago. Our granddaughter was negative last month. We’ve flown to the US three times, negative each time. All of my friends have been negative. So negative does exist. Stay positive in your thoughts. We have to live with this thing.

I sure would not want to be a tour guide in these times. It is darn hard work in normal times, but toss covid issues in, and yeesh.

All the posters to this thread have made valid points. But, I think David really hits the nail on the head.

Touchy issues, but very, very important issues that can easily affect an entire group and then anyone that group comes in contact with.

Mary, do please keep us all posted. Again, thank you for sharing your experiences.

I am following carefully what active travelers are sharing....both the delights and the challenges.

Nick, I have no doubt which group is being more sensible.

FYI, the tour guide had permission to tell everyone that the tour member had asthma and also had tested negative multiple times. I am perhaps more sensitive to this situation after my husband got covid in Costa Rica. Some people on the tour are thinking they are impervious because they have not yet encountered covid and are taking this lightly. They are in denial and are sadly mistaken. This is our guide’s first tour since covid. I am thinking she is a bit rusty and is doing the best she can in these confusing times navigating this covid situation. It can’t be easy. I feel like a b#$&ch for constantly bringing this up to the guide and others.

Mary i'd be right there with you. Good job!

I'm not suggesting that this individual (the one with asthma and who was coughing) was not being truthful, and their condition needs to be handled discreetly and with respect to their privacy.

For what its worth, way back in the pre-covid days I used to have times where I'd cough at work. I worried the people around me might think I have some contagious disease. Working with my doctor we got an inhaler program working that stopped the cough.

I read this thread yesterday and my first thought was to wonder if this person had some sort of condition like asthma. My adult son has this problem. He was scheduled to go on a tour but backed out. One reason was that he felt that every time he coughed, someone would think he had Covid. He did not want to deal with that.
It is Mary's situation to handle and putting it out to the forum seems inappropriate. (to me anyway... ) I would have for sure gone to the tour guide if I was uncomfortable about the situation.
I will be on a Rick Steves tour in June and I swear I will be afraid to even sneeze. ( I have seasonal allergies) I am bringing plenty of Allergy meds. I hope I don't make it to the forum for sneezing on the back of the bus.

Mary, thank you for sharing. There is nothing more valuable than “ real time” information about what is happening during travel. I thought your post showed great discretion- not calling out any tour/ leader/ group members by name.

The stakes are very high right now with the test requirements to return to the US. I applaud your integrity in trying to protect the best interests of the entire group.

As for the mask scrum- shame on any tour member who doesn’t follow the rules. The RS crew has provided everyone with explicit, detailed info about what to expect. Everyone has to sign an agreement. And RS follows that up with generous cancellation policies if one feels they can’t comply.

I also wondered about a pre-existing condition. I have traveled with a friend who has COPD. She coughs a lot, and even before Covid she got all kinds of grief from people in airplanes and other places. I shudder to think what will happen next time she flies.

Glad though that your concerns are eased.

Yikes, I hope people on my tours don't inspect me too closely when dining. Eating tends to cause me to have a light nasal drip for a few minutes and that's not uncommon considering taste and smell interact so closely. I will not take antihistamines for a symptom that only appears when eating. I've got a partner who frequently develops a cough due to allergies in new environs. Tours may not be as enjoyable for us as they have been in the past but my ice blue eyes can deliver a steely gaze if needed.

I have been traveling a bit since Winter. Not on RS tours but on my own. Due to some medical issues I regretfully had to cancel my reservations. I am so thankful RS has a modified his refund policy to allow us more flexiblity. I guess that's why I have traveled with RS a lot over the years.

I visited a certain state that has a reputation for not taking Covid precautions as seriously as many others. It's easy to get overconfident. I spent two weeks in this state, eating indoors, attending the theater, and just hanging out with friends, relatives and strangers. Never got Covid.

But, on another trip to another state where Covid is not taken that seriously, I got my booster shot two weeks before leaving. I figured I would be chock full of anti-bodies for all of that trip. Again, despite being indoors close quarters with other people, no Covid.

Now I plan a 3rd trip and I am going to be extra careful. I figure at some point my luck may u out. Thankfully, we are at a very low point of infections, but they are on the rise. Bring a good N95 or KN95 mask that fits you well. Try a few different brands. Get vaccinated, wear your mask when in crowded indoor conditions and enjoy yourself. So far that has worked for me.

I recently finished a tour (not RS) with 14 people. One person had a cough. But it wasn't that bad. No one else had any symptoms whatsoever. We all wore masks when together indoors except when we ate as a group. (Hard to eat through a mask.)

On the last day, all but one and the tour director tested to return to the U.S. Seven of the 13 tested positive. Then the tour director tested. Positive. The one who didn't test....me....then tested. Negative. There were strict mask rules indoors and on the coach. Everyone followed them. We all had to be vaccinated and boosted.

Yet six people without any symptoms tested positive for Covid.

Now I'm wondering, if the OP went far enough. Shouldn't she insist that EVERYONE test daily and share their results because you can spread Covid even without symptoms? Perhaps after breakfast, the group gets together to self test and share their results. This could be a requirement that all tour members bring enough self tests for every day.

Unfortunately, tour groups don't travel in a bubble. What are you going to do about all those other people who may go around without masks or dare to sneeze or cough in your vicinity? Carry extra tests and insist they test in front of you to prove they are okay? Insist the tour not go anywhere where masks, vaccines or daily testing not be a requirement of everyone?

Frank, you had a person on your tour who had symptoms - a slight cough. Was that person tested as soon as the symptoms were noted? It is possible that the person with a slight cough had covid and passed it on to others in the group. And the fact that the others were positive and asymptomatic speaks to the efficacy of masks and the vaccine. Wearing a mask limits the viral load one is exposed to and perhaps lessens the severity of the disease. My husband had a very slight cough when we were traveling in Costa Rica and he turned out to be positive for covid. Exhibiting possible covid symptoms are a reason to be tested. I don’t think a daily test should be required of everyone as it is simply not practicable. RS tours requires symptomatic people to be tested.

The point I'm trying to make is that asymptomatic people can have Covid and spread it. It's possible that an asymptomatic person gave Covid to the cougher and not the other way around.

Travel these days means taking some risk with Covid. You can't protect yourself 100%.

And remember, much of Europe has either gone or is going maskless.

RS tours requires symptomatic people to be tested.

As they should.

Tour group operators (RS and others), as well as tour participants -- and all travelers, including those not on a tour -- need to strike a balance.

In a perfect world (well, in an otherwise perfect world with a pandemic still raging around us all...), everyone would test daily, under observation to ensure everyone was getting a valid result, and results would be shared and tracked appropriately (not disclosing anyone's medical history/status). But our world is far form perfect. Tour group companies are in the business of guiding people on tours, they are not trained, full-time medical professionals or infectious disease experts, and like flight attendants, they have other tasks they need to do besides enforcing proper mask usage in the back of the bus.

I think we all share in the responsibility to keep each other safe -- and there's the rub, since not everyone is always on their A game. So, sometimes, somebody (maybe the tour leader, maybe the person sitting next to you) has to be Patti Lupone...

Striking the right balance is key, and not always easy (RSE tour group leaders, flight attendants, and people with no mask or with chin diapers who get within inches of me, all have learned how challenging that can be at times). It depends on the circumstances. I would expect, assume and hope that someone at HQ in Edmonds is keeping track of the critical statistics -- Frank II's experience above certainly should give us all something to think about (8 out of 14 people on his non-RS tour tested positive for COVID before attempting to fly home, despite most seeming to be doing the right things). That is not a percentage that is sustainable. If that is not an extreme outlier, and tour operators are seeing that kind of result regularly, they are not going to be running tours very long. Nobody wants to go back to the dark days when travel was impossible or outright prohibited (least of all the good folks at RSE). At some point, maybe testing everyone each morning will make sense -- it's a hassle and a complication nobody wants on their vacation, but if that's what it takes....it beats some alternatives which could happen (shutting down travel again).

We all need to keep reminding ourselves, this is NOT over. The pandemic is all around us, and COVID-positive folks are all around us (some of whom may show symptoms, but many do not). Personally, I am very thankful for the ability to travel again, and I try damn hard to do everything possible to give us all the best chance possible to stay safe and keep on traveling. I do not gripe (much) about the inconveniences, and do not push back against any request, requirement or recommendation, even if I might not think it's really necessary. We should all remember the dark days of 2020-2021 and do what we can to ensure we don't go back there. So yeah, I'll tickle my nose every day if needed, I'll mask up, and yes I'll wear it over my nose like we all know we are supposed to, I'll give you room to breathe and hope you will return the favor.

If we are going to Keep On Traveling, we have to Keep On Behaving. And now, excuse me, I need to go tickle my nose...

. At some point, maybe testing everyone each morning will make sense --

That's not going to happen. If a tour required daily, communal testing, they would lose a lot of customers.

I have been in Europe now for just over a month. Four countries. Mask use is minimal. In the last three countries I've been in, only one required me to show proof of Vaccination and that was entering the country. Once in......nothing. Europe is beginning to treat Covid as an endemic rather than a pandemic. And perhaps, that's what we need to do as wel.

Covid is not going away anytime soon. We need to learn to live with it. Vaccines and boosters help to prevent serious cases.

Of course, those with health issues need to take extra precaution but you can't expect the world to revert back for a few.

At some point, maybe testing everyone each morning will make sense --

That's not going to happen. If a tour required daily, communal testing, they would lose a lot of customers.

Daily testing would be a show stopper for me. I would simply cancel my tour and vacation on my own.

I agree Jeff…..also as someone who has post nasal drip since childhood as well as seasonal allergies- it feels a little disconcerting to be pointed out as having Covid when a slight cough, clearing of throat, or an occasional sneeze is due to PND or allergies. I have no problem wearing masks when in company of others.

This thread has been particularly interesting to me. I have sinus issues, including post nasal drip, off and on all year long. I also have allergies to most trees and the area where I live currently has a large number of trees pollinating. I started having problems with my sinuses midweek last week. The post nasal drip makes me cough. But then I started coughing a lot and experiencing fatigue. I've been under a huge amount of stress this Spring for reasons I won't get into and figured it had caught up with me and I needed sleep and rest. Anyway, yesterday I went to a local walk-in clinic. I thought it unlikely I have covid but agreed to a test. This morning I received the results...covid positive. My worst symptom is a cough. The fatigue is going away. Since the pandemic started I have been very careful about mask wearing, etc. So the fact that I have a history of allergies and post nasal drip didn't matter one bit. I have covid. I am not ashamed of having covid. I don't care if people know I have covid. I did nothing wrong. If I were on an organized tour I would have no problem explaining my preexisting respiratory issues. I would also not have a problem testing every day if it made others more comfortable. Obviously, there are a lot of opinions about this. Can anyone tell me if tour operators must follow HIPPA guidelines? I would think not, but I don't know. I don't think tour guides should reveal a diagnosis for no reason, but I also think with a tour member's permission, covid is a good reason to divulge a non-covid preexisting condition which presents with symptoms of covid. I'm just thinking of the common good.

And, I strongly feel if a tour member agreed to wear the proper mask in the proper way they should be asked to leave the tour after three warnings. I think I might get some flack for this but.....

Travelergirl! So sorry you tested positive! Hope you are feeling better soon.

I just got back Thursday from a month in France, Belgium and Netherlands. I'll agree with Frank that they have moved on to looking at this as endemic rather than pandemic.

I had horrible allergies in France, related I think to blooming chestnut trees. Yikes. I am a neti pot user at home and continued to use a Neil-med plastic irrigator during my trip which helped quite a bit with the allergy symptoms. Still, I was slightly worried and tested myself frequently. I tested before I met up with friends who were meeting up with a RS tour and also on my own. All in all I used 11 test kits over 30 days. I took some with me and then bought a 5-pack in Paris. I also did a 12th test at an official test place in Amsterdam the day before my return flight.

I also just finished a Road Scholar tour where one person tested positive and then his wife tested positive a few days later. According to the leader Road Scholar does not have guidelines on what to do if someone tests positive so the wife continued to come to activities and lectures until she, too, tested positive. No one but me was masking on the bus or during group time until #1 positive test and then people were half-heartedly doing it. I was frankly shocked when the 14 who tested the final day were all negative, including me.

BTW, the leader was not always to be believed so I am not sure if Road Scholar has guidelines or not. I've added that in my evaluation and asked for clarification.

Unfortunately daily testing is not going to guarantee that you won’t still get COVID. We were required to wear masks both on and off the boat- even outside in our tour groups. I tested negative with a PCR test (lab grade) every day on my river cruise in April and then a negative antigen test (again a lab grade test) on top of it to fly home. By the time I landed I have a headache and low grade fever. Tested positive for COVID. Vaccinated and boosted. I think everyone just needs to assess their risk both medically and financially before travel. Personally I am going to keep traveling and protecting myself the best I can. Life is too short.

@travelergirl, no flack from me.....

However, I long ago realized that the only person I can actually be responsible for and expect full compliance with safety protocols is me. If one gets upset about the perceived lack of caution by others it will drive you crazy. If I am honest, if it wasn't for this test to return rule, I probably would not be so focused on this issue myself.

My week in London was an interesting experience for me. There are very few, if any, covid precautions taken by anyone at this time. A few masks on public transport but that is it. I had to do a mental shift and accept that this is the way it is and just go enjoy myself.

The people that are on the tour are coming from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Some have lots of experiences with masks, and others very little. All will have agreed to follow RS tour guidelines and that is the expectation that is appropriate. The truth is that some will find this harder than others. Some may need more than 3 reminders. Not because they are selfish or non-complaint, but because they simply haven't worn masks for a very long time, if at all.

I have bad asthma at times, usually about once a year I flare up. My doctor even gave me a steroid taper to take whenever I travel just in case. It worries me that people will single me out because I cough if I have a flare up. I believe that testing is really not the key, and if you have underlying conditions you should take the cautions you need to. Like Frank said, you could test negative and be exposed that same day and get covid, but if you are not really sick I guess I don’t really care. I just don’t understand why you would travel if you are so worried, unless you are worried about getting back to the US, which I totally get. Hopefully that will be stopped soon.

@rlm9745 “I just don’t understand why you would travel if you are so worried, unless you are worried about getting back to the US, which I totally get.” That is exactly what I am worried about as are others. If the US a does away with its policy, I won’t worry about it.