British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, 10 Downing Street said. “Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Johnson was admitted to the London hospital Sunday night.
Cruise passengers
As Canadians departed the COVID-19-stricken Coral Princess cruise ship on Monday for their journey home, other recently repatriated high-seas travellers coped with the emotional exhaustion of their new normal on dry land. A day after Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Twitter that Canadians on the Coral Princess would be coming home, their long journey with two pit stops in the US was underway.
There were 97 Canadian passengers aboard the ship, which left Santiago, Chile, on March 5 and docked in Miami on Friday.
Gary and Sue Lyon said in an email they were on a bus waiting to board a charter flight to Toronto via Columbus and Newark.
“We are all feeling relieved, happy and excited to go home. We will go home and self-isolate for 14 days,” the Lyons said.
“We appreciate all the crew and staff of the Coral Princess have done for us during this very challenging time. We wish them all the best.”
North Vancouver resident Sanford Osler, who was travelling with his wife, Betty Ann, said all passengers were wearing masks and gloves, and that he felt physically healthy.
“Physically, I feel normal … Emotionally, I’m relieved to be off the ship, obviously, and on the way home. Although now we have further uncertainties,” Osler said by telephone from the bus.
Osler said he is getting “mixed signals” about whether he and his wife will have to be quarantined in Toronto for 14 days before moving on to Vancouver.
Champagne tweeted Sunday that those who don’t have COVID-19 symptoms would be able to return home on a charter aircraft Monday.
“Upon arrival they will be screened again and subject to a mandatory 14-day self-isolation,” Champagne wrote.
Two people aboard the ship have died, and 12 have tested positive for COVID-19, Princess Cruises has said. Still more are experiencing flu-like symptoms.
This past week Canadians on the MS Zaandam and MS Rotterdam arrived in Canada on a plane chartered by operator Holland America.
Catherine McLeod and her husband, Paul, arrived home from the Rotterdam on Friday, physically and mentally exhausted. They began their 14-day isolation in the comfort and safety of their own home.
“The isolation is not difficult as we are too mentally drained to be wanting to do anything,” McLeod said in an email. “We are in a state of shock really as we now can reflect on the danger we faced and how lucky we are to have walked away from that situation healthy.”
She praised the captain of the ship for taking swift action to lock it down and prevent further spreading of the virus.
“Isolating is a small price to pay considering the possible consequences of not doing it. People who have not self-isolated are incredibly selfish fools,” she said.
McLeod urged other passengers now making the journey home to persevere.
“Try to be patient on the way home as there are many people who simply do not understand the gravity of this virus and the lack of social distancing just about drove me crazy,” she wrote. “Moronic behaviour.”
Global Affairs said it is monitoring the progress of 49 Canadians and eight crew members on seven other ships. The department says it is not aware that any of them have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The ships are the MS Albatros, Viking Sun, MV Columbus, Costa Deliziosa, Pacific Princess, MSC Magnifica, and the Queen Mary 2.
Canadian travellers want refunds
Travellers and travel agents alike are apparently frustrated with refund policies and customer service at Canadian airlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A petition calling on Ottawa to refuse bailouts to any airline that does not refund customers for cancelled flights now has roughly 3,000 signatures.
Toronto resident Bob Scott launched the petition last week. He notes that Canadian carriers are offering customers flights rebookings or travel vouchers – but not refunds – amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in effective loans to airlines from passengers.
Barbara Broomel, a New York-based travel agent who works with Canadian clients, says Air Canada has been “very hard” to reach, leaving her “in agony” about whether a tour group should make their final $6,000 payment for a European trip that may yet be cancelled.
Air Canada, which has cut flying by about 90 percent for the next two months, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Natalie Rahey and Blair Skrupski, a Halifax couple whose wedding in Mexico later this month is now on hold after Air Canada Vacations cancelled their flight, say they and their nearly three dozen guests are now out a total of more than $50,000. Rahey says she is “incredibly disappointed” that their voucher requires them to rebook at the same resort for the same price or more within the next two years, even if cheaper options become available.
While US and European Union officials have ordered airlines to reimburse customers for cancelled flights, a statement on the Canadian Transportation Agency website says airlines are not obliged to refund passengers for flights suspended due to the novel coronavirus or other reasons outside a carrier’s control.
DOT orders refunds for cancelled flights
The US Department of Transportation has ordered airlines to reimburse customers for cancelled flights. The DOT hasn’t set a fixed timeline and will ‘exercise its prosecutorial discretion’ to allow airlines time to process refunds.
“The Department is receiving an increasing number of complaints and inquiries from ticketed passengers, including many with non-refundable tickets, who describe having been denied refunds for flights that were cancelled or significantly delayed,” the agency said.
IATA estimates airlines have taken payment of about US $35 billion for flights which were later cancelled.
The Department says credit vouchers have limited validity, and the covid-19 pandemic could still rage for months, reducing options for travelers.
Delta has tried to head off a flood of refund requests by extending flight credit validity to two years.
Air Canada Vacations update on chargebacks
Air Canada Vacations said today that due to the unprecedented effect of COVID-19 on the industry, the tour operator will work to support travel partners by disputing chargebacks on their behalf. The company continues to collaborate with financial institutions and government bodies to reduce the mutual risks associated with chargebacks.
“The tumultuous impact of the crisis requires a coordinated response from all the players in the industry,” said Nino Montagnese, managing director at Air Canada Vacations.
“Our focus is on ensuring that we can work together to reduce the financial burden on agents and implement additional mitigation measures so that we can collectively restore operations when the time comes.”
More information can be found on travel agents’ ACV&Me accounts.
Event planners
As people strive to limit contact with others, the events industry is being hit particularly hard. Some event planning and rental companies are trying to find creative uses for their equipment and services as they go through the process of applying for federal assistance, or seek additional financing or loan extensions.
“Caterers are used to ups and downs, but there will be a fair number of companies that won’t make it through this,” said Paula Kreuzburg, executive director of the 1,200-member International Caterers Association in Baltimore.
Some restaurants are managing by staying open for takeout and selling produce boxes. Other companies are renting big tents to hospitals.
“The hospital work has been our saving grace,” said Sean McCarthy of McCarthy’s Tents & Events in Rochester, New York. “It’s allowed me to keep a skeleton crew working.”
McCarthy is renting tents for use for intake, triage and drive-thru testing. Tents supplied by some other companies are being used as morgues.
Still most events are off the table and there’s not much that can be done these days with bouncy houses and ponies for kiddie rides, or stacks of rental chairs for graduations and Bar Mitzvahs.
Airbnb valuation tumbles
Like virtually every other travel-related business, Airbnb’s revenues have fallen – putting its planned 2020 IPO in jeopardy. Airbnb lowered its internal valuation by 16 percent to US $26 billion. CEO Brian Chesky announced the new valuation – $5 billion less than its previous value at a company-wide meeting.
Chesky remained upbeat however, saying, “We are going to weather this storm. We are going to get through this together. There’s going to be a huge amount of business on the other side.”
The company reportedly lost US $322 million in the first nine months of 2019 and now plans to go public may be delayed, Bloomberg reported. Airbnb recently said it will allocate about US $250 million to help compensate for losses incurred by hosts.
Airlines
American Airlines is suspending more flights at the city’s three major airports, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, in New Jersey. American said late Sunday that it will run 13 flights daily from the three airports beginning this week, down from an average of 271 flights per day last April.
United Airlines over the weekend reduced its 157 daily flights, to 17. Spirit Airlines has completely cut off service to the city and JetBlue, which is based in New York City, has slashed operations in the city by about 80%.
The Transportation Security Administration screened 32% fewer passengers nationwide Sunday than just a week ago, and 95% fewer than the same day a year ago.
Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and JetBlue applied for a share of the US $25 billion in federal grants designed to cover airline payrolls for the next six months. None disclosed the amount they are seeking.
The founder of easyJet says the company has enough money only to get through August at best and wants to cancel a £4.5 ($7.76) billion contract with Airbus for what he calls 107 “useless aircraft.” EasyJet, which flies predominantly in Europe, has grounded all of its 344 planes.
European companies are expected to get financial support from the government, though unlike the US there has not been a co-ordinated regional plan to bail out airlines or plane makers.
Singapore will suspend its Changi Airport Terminal 2 for 18 months beginning next month. Changi Airport may suspending operations temporarily if the remaining airlines choose to suspend or adjust their flight schedules.
Hotels for the homeless
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an initiative Friday to place homeless people in hotel and motel rooms around the state in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA and California counties have identified 6,867 rooms that are now in state possession, and they’re looking to identify up to 15,000 rooms in total as an initial goal.
The “Project Roomkey” initiative is the first of its kind in the nation, in which the federal agency would reimburse state and local governments up to 75 percent of the costs of the rooms, including services such as meals and security and custodial services, for the next three months, CBS SF Bay Area reports.
Essential behavioral health and health care services will also be provided by the local governments and community partners as needed.
Not Open
British Open officials announce the cancellation of the 2020 tournament, following in the footsteps of Wimbledon officials who cancelled the tennis tournament because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have to cancel The Open for the first time since World War II,” officials said in a statement. “We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people, but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.”
One of golf’s majors, the tournament was set to begin July 16 at Royal St. George’s Golf Club just outside London; Wimbledon had been scheduled for June 29 to July 12 in London. The golf tournament last was cancelled in 1945, because of World War II.
It will be contested next year at Royal St. George’s.