What Happens If You Test Positive In Your Vacation Destination?

Since the pandemic, vacationing seems like a far-fetched thought. We are over a year in COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on borders are continuously changing as new outbreaks and variants emerge.

Testing and vaccine proof has become a common part of traveling life.

Several countries need travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test for gaining entry.

What Happens If You Test Positive In Your Vacation Destination?

Most of them don’t care about their vaccination status. Many countries test travelers when they enter while for some countries a negative COVID-19 test for the last 72 hours is enough.

But have you ever thought about what will happen if after entering a destination, we test positive for coronavirus? This is a confusing situation a lot of travelers have found themselves in.

A South Carolina couple, back in August Warren Watson and April DeMuth were all prepared to return to the United States after a two-week-long vacation in Greece then they tested positive.

DeMuth explained that they took the test in the morning and when they went to the airport, an official was checking their luggage when the message dropped in their phone that he had tested positive.

A couple of hours before they had to board their plane back to the US, Watson tested COVID-19 positive.

The couple was fully vaccinated before they entered Greece. Travel rules of Greece allow fully vaccinated people to enter. And because of it, they did not have to go through any tests before entering. But in order to fly back to the country, they had to produce a negative coronavirus test.

After receiving the test results, they got called by the Greek authorities who told them that they had to stay in quarantine at quarantine hotels provided by the government. Watson said that they were really fortunate to have such quarantine hotels where the government paid. They got three meals every day and were treated very nicely.

Before he tested positive, Watson was experiencing mild symptoms. Fortunately, his symptoms never got above that even when he was in quarantine. As soon as he tested negative in a week, the couple was able to fly back to their country.

DeMuth said that they would never make this mistake again of traveling without insurance. Watson was really thankful for the country for providing such a gracious treatment to travelers.

Things could have turned out differently if they had chosen another country. For instance, if they had traveled to Italy, they would have to pay their own quarantine bills.

Insubuy is a company that offers medical insurance for international travel. Its CEO, Narendra Khatri said that Insurance for travel with coronavirus quarantine coverage helps you in your expenditures if people test positive on their vacations.

He added that the amount and benefit depend fully on the policy they choose. Most policies provide $2000 in lodging, accommodation, and quarantining.

In 2020, a couple flew to Mexico for their vacation. Hailing from California, Jose, and Gloria Arellano tested positive there. Gloria recovered from the infection, but the condition of her husband worsened, and he needed to be hospitalized.

His condition kept on worsening, and he was flown back by an air ambulance. On December 28, he was declared dead from a lung infection.

The medical cost along with the air ambulance was quite shattering and the family’s insurance did not cover it.

Well, such cases are not so common, Khari recommends all travelers prepare for the worst scenarios and have insurance policies. He advises people to choose a policy wisely. He said that people should buy a policy that can cover their maximum expenditure.

Warning people, he asks them if $5,000 would be enough if their condition worsened and they had to be flown back to their country in a helicopter.