It’s mind-boggling to me that I’m actually writing this but I just watched Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s press conference and he just issued a sobering warning to Angelenos: He says that we are in the most dangerous time of Los Angeles’ history because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Mayor Garcetti informed everyone that once hospital ICU bed capacity falls below 15%, the state will shut down the region. And right now, most of the regions that are popular with tourists are nearing that mark. He said that the shutdown could come as early as this weekend or early next week. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen but unfortunately, the numbers are expected to go up because of Thanksgiving gatherings.
What does this mean for Los Angeles residents and travelers? When a stay-at-home order begins, here’s what will change immediately, per ABC7:
-Restaurants would close to both indoor and outdoor dining. They could only do takeout or delivery.
-Bars and wineries have to close (indoor and outdoor)
-Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and other personal care services have to close
-All retail stores can stay open, but must drop capacity to 20%
-Private gatherings of any size will be prohibited
According to the Los Angeles Times, affected communities will also be required to close playgrounds, zoos, museums, aquariums and wineries. Overnight, short-term stays at campgrounds would be prohibited.
Per another LA Times article, “all non-essential travel is temporarily restricted statewide, effective immediately and regardless of whether your county is under a stay-at-home order. Hotels and motels are now restricted to only guests traveling for an ‘essential’ reason.”
That means that if you have travel plans, your hotel reservation will be canceled unless you’re traveling for an essential reason. The good news is that both Mayor Garcetti and Governor Newsom also said that “parks and beaches would remain open and that Californians could boost their mental health by hiking, running, fishing, practicing yoga, skiing, snowboarding and otherwise savoring outdoor activities.”
Most of this information can be found on the California government’s COVID-19 website but it’s not nearly as easy to comprehend as the news stories listed above. However, this website does state: “Stay in your county if you can. Don’t drive more than 2-3 hours. The California Department of Public Health has issued a Travel Advisory encouraging Californians to avoid non-essential travel. You can travel for urgent matters or if such travel is essential to your permitted work. Even though businesses around the state are opening up, avoid traveling long distances for vacations or pleasure as much as possible. This is to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Do not travel if you are sick, or if someone in your household has had coronavirus in the last two weeks. Do not travel with someone who is sick.”
Unfortunately, it’s not just California that travelers should be avoiding. It’s essentially everywhere right now as hospitals around the world are reaching capacity. In fact, the most popular international destination for American travelers is Mexico and they were just added to the WHO and CDC’s list of places to avoid. Read more in this Reuters article.
Mexico isn’t the only country. In fact, most are now listed as a no-go, which you can find out more about here. There are only about 50 countries that are listed as low risk and most of them are places Americans aren’t currently allowed to visit, like Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong. See the full list here.
There’s no doubt we’re living in surreal times but thanks to the vaccines, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We just need to sit tight for a few more months and follow the advice of the health professionals, even if that means canceling that dream trip or that much-needed family get-together. Better yet, don’t cancel. Just postpone. We’ll get back to travel soon. We can all use this time to start planning our future travels and know that when we finally do travel again, we’ll feel safer doing so. That counts for a lot.
Agreed. A little more patience and we can lick this thing for good & do some actual real travel. Anything now is a poor substitute. Try some local, regional outdoor stuff. We are almost there.
Soooo….WHY NOT VISIT MEXICO?as the title of your article claims?
Is your kid writing your articles?
I have noticed lately a higher volume of articles with lesser information content….soon I will unsubscribe….as others will do…
So…Why not travel to Mexico…
If you scroll down to the bottom of the article you will find out why but here’s the gist of it “Unfortunately, it’s not just California that travelers should be avoiding. It’s essentially everywhere right now as hospitals around the world are reaching capacity. In fact, the most popular international destination for American travelers is Mexico and they were just added to the WHO and CDC’s list of places to avoid. Read more in this Reuters article. Mexico isn’t the only country. In fact, most are now listed as a no-go, which you can find out more about here. There are only about 50 countries that are listed as low risk and most of them are places Americans aren’t currently allowed to visit, like Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong. See the full list here.”
Well said. We all need to continue to be patient and think of the most vulnerable, if not ourselves. I also wish the airlines would quit selling rock-bottom airfares that are enticing everyone to travel.
I have hotel reservations near Joshua Tree and the hotel has not cancelled them and when I called they said they are staying open. I have sent them an email about their cancellation policy, but haven’t heard back. So my question is if the hotel doesn’t cancel my reservation can they still charge a cancellation fee if I cancel?
Good question. If it’s a major chain they should change it. You can try to postpone to a later date. Ask to speak to the manager and let me know what happens
I did cancel my reservation. They charged me a cancellation fee of $10.00. I asked if they could waive it and they said no. If I had waited until 3 days before our reservation, they would have charged for one night. I’ve decided not to challenge it with my credit card company. I’m sure they had many cancellations and are hurting financially. But, I am more inclined now to stay at hotels that have a “cancel anytime” policy.