From Yahoo:
“'I can't
believe this is happening': Travelers recount tales of getting stuck in Mexico
after positive COVID-19 tests”
Korey Mudd
wasn't fazed by the cleaning crew outside his Mexico hotel room when he and his
wife returned from the pool. "There was someone wiping down the door and
the handles and stuff,'' he said. "They asked me if it was my room, and I
said, yes.' The 30-year-old control room operator didn't grow concerned until a
hotel manager and other officials pulled up in a golf cart. They delivered bad
news: Mudd's COVID-19 test, taken that morning at the hotel so he could board
his flight home to Michigan under new Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention rules for international flights to the United States, was positive. How
soon could he pack up and move to another room for mandatory isolation? An hour
later, Mudd was whisked to a new room. His wife, who had tested negative, was
given the choice of staying in their casita at El Dorado Casitas Royale or
moving into a room next door to his in the quarantine wing. She picked the
latter. It was the fifth day of their weeklong honeymoon in Riviera Maya
outside Cancun. Travel to Mexico and other international destinations open to
Americans during the coronavirus pandemic took on additional risk when the new
CDC guidelines went into effect Jan. 26. "We got bored and wanted to go on
a trip": Tales from a pandemic spring break in Cancun, Mexico
Do you need
a COVID test to fly? Travelers don't need a COVID-19 test to fly to Mexico,
but they can't board a flight back to the United States from the country or any
international destination without showing a negative test taken no more than
three days before departure or proof of recovery from COVID-19. Test
positive, and you can't fly home until you are cleared by a doctor or provide
proof of a negative test. Hotel and airline interpretations of the CDC rules
vary, but travelers who've been stuck say they were told between 10 and 14 days
in isolation. When the requirement was announced on Jan. 12, travelers
rushed to cancel plans or shift their vacation plans to U.S. vacation spots
that don't require COVID-19 tests. But the bookings rebounded as some hotels
announced free testing and a free quarantine stay if they tested positive and
vaccination rates have increased. (A vaccination does not currently exempt
travelers from the requirement.) Mudd and plenty of other travelers
weighed the risks and packed their bags for Mexico. The new rules went into
effect four days before the couple's flight from Michigan to Cancun. They were
married in June and had already delayed their honeymoon because of the
pandemic. "Ultimately, we had pushed it off so many times already,
we decided we were going to go ahead and go for it,'' he said. They wish
they hadn't. The positive test stranded him in Mexico for nine nights longer
than planned. "It would have been better just to stay home, for
sure, unfortunately,'' he said.
How many
vacationers are testing positive for COVID-19 and getting stuck? Mexico
tourism and hotel officials say the rate of positive tests among travelers
since the new testing requirement went into effect is minimal. The Grand
at Moon Palace, a luxury all-inclusive resort in Cancun, has had no more than
10 cases, according to Cesar Fallardi, director of operations. Together with
sister Palace Resorts, the rate is 0.4% he said. "It's nothing,
honestly, nothing,'' he said. In Los Cabos, another popular beach
destination in Mexico, Pueblo Bonito's five resorts have had 23 positive
results out of 8,196 tests, according to marketing director Mary Van Den
Heuvel. For a recent reporting trip to Cancun, I tested negative at my
all-inclusive resort and boarded my flight with no problems. (I also took a
test a couple days before the trip as a precaution.) Still, the topic of
stranded travelers came up during a U.S. House aviation subcommittee meeting on
March 2. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky recounted the story of an
unnamed constituent who went to Cabo San Lucas and tested positive. She was
asymptomatic and took two more tests to be sure the initial result was correct.
The family was told to stop testing and wait for 14 days, when they would be
eligible to get a doctor's note to fly home if they had no COVID-19 symptoms.
"But they couldn't get a doctor in Mexico to sign off on that,''
Massie said. The family ended up flying to Tijuana, Mexico, walking
across the border to San Diego and flying back to Kentucky from there, he said,
repeating a story he had shared on Twitter in February. Mudd and two
other American vacationers who tested positive while on vacation in Mexico this
year, but didn't become sick or symptomatic, shared their stories with USA
TODAY.
Michigan
honeymooners: 'You might want to think twice about it' Mudd and his wife,
Alisha, were having a blast in Mexico before their honeymoon came to a
premature end. They spent one day deep-sea fishing, catching red
snapper, yellow tail snapper and bonita. They donated the fish to the crew. They
zip lined and swam in caves in an adventure park and hung out at their
all-inclusive resort, El Dorado Casitas Royale by Karisma. The day Korey
Mudd tested positive for COVID-19 they were supposed to meet up with friends
from Michigan they had unexpectedly run into on their trip. His first
thought on hearing the results: "That can't be right because I felt fine,
no symptoms. We had been being, I thought, pretty careful.'' They wore
masks and religiously used hand sanitizer, he said. Mudd was tested
again when he got to his new room, a standard hotel room with a balcony but no
private pool like the casita they booked. The second test was a PCR test, which
is considered more accurate than the rapid test he took earlier in the day for
free at the hotel. The results took a couple days, but the outcome was
the same: COVID-19 positive. His reaction to the honeymoon vacation
mishap: "I can't believe this is happening.'' The hotel initially
told him he had to stay until he tested negative, which freaked Mudd out since
people who get the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can test positive long
after they've recovered from the virus. "We had been on the CDC
website, and we knew that wasn’t what our government was asking,'' he said. The
CDC's policy, revised in December, is that people who have tested positive but
have no symptoms can be around others after 10 days have passed since their
positive viral test for COVID-19, spokeswoman Caitlin Shockey said. The
El Dorado, which covers the cost of the extended stay for travelers stranded by
COVID-19, eventually settled on 10 days after his first test if he had no
symptoms. Mudd also called the human resources department for his
employer and was happy to find out COVID-19-related absences were covered. "That
was actually one of my biggest worries, was work,'' he said. Alisha Mudd
wanted to stay with her new husband, even if the only way they could see each
other on their balconies was with a makeup mirror wedged high into an opening
on the concrete wall separating their balconies. But they didn't want to
risk her testing positive and getting stuck when it was his time to leave, so
she flew home as scheduled. (Passengers must show proof of a negative test
taken no more than three days before their return flight to the United States,
meaning her original test would no longer be valid.) The CDC's order on
testing for international flights does not preclude spouses and other people
who were exposed to a COVID-19 case but tested negative from boarding a flight
back to the United States, Shockey said. In Mexico, Mudd passed the time in his
room browsing the internet on his phone (he didn't bring a laptop on his
honeymoon) and watching Discovery Channel on the in-room TV. For food, he
ordered hamburgers and other room-service items – its complimentary at
all-inclusive resorts and mandatory during isolation. Pushups and squats
sufficed for daily exercise. Alcohol, also complimentary at all-inclusive
resorts, was not allowed, something the hotel attributed to doctor's orders, he
said. Alisha Mudd, who was allowed to leave the quarantine wing, brought him
back a Dos Equis beer when she was still in Mexico because a manager had said
she could bring him drinks as long as she didn't enter his room. Hotel
security found out and scolded her. "They called her out of her
room to tell her,'' Mudd said. Mudd finally left Mexico for Michigan on
Feb. 7, nine days later than planned, but not before a major scare at Cancun
International Airport. He showed American Airlines agents a doctor's note
saying he had recovered from COVID-19 recently and received a boarding pass.
Before the flight departed, though, a gate agent told him there was a
mistake, and he wasn't allowed to fly. He was escorted back through security,
where a manager showed him a laminated sheet of paper saying he wasn't allowed
to fly home until 14 days after his positive test, not 10 days. His wife had
called American and other airlines about their policies before booking her
husband's new ticket home and was simply told "we follow CDC guidelines.''
American has since changed its policy from 14 days to 10 days to align with
CDC guidelines and other major airlines, spokeswoman Sarah Jantz said. Mudd
didn't want to stay any additional days in Mexico, so he paid for a last-minute
rapid test at the airport. It was negative. He flew home on a
later flight. They have few complaints about how the hotel handled the
situation but don't recommend taking the risk of testing positive on an
international trip. "Anybody we know that says they’re going, my
wife kind of says, 'You might want to think twice about it. We had a pretty bad
experience,' '' Mudd said.
Kansas City
paralegal: 'I even told my sister-in-law: I don't want to get stuck in Mexico' Kansas
City, Missouri, paralegal Lucia Rooney was considering canceling her Mexico
vacation up to a few days before her Jan. 23 flight to Cancun. The CDC's
new COVID-19 testing requirement would take effect four days before they were
due to fly home, and she worried about the risk of testing positive. Rooney can
work remotely, but her husband can't. Their adult daughter was watching their
teenage son. Rooney and her husband were the only two people in their
traveling group of six who hadn't had COVID-19 within the past 90 days and thus
were exempt from the testing requirement if they provided a doctor's note. Her
husband had had one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but she hadn't yet. "I
even told my sister-in-law, I don’t want to get stuck in Mexico,'' she said.
The couple decided to "go for it'' and headed for Riviera Maya. They
were impressed by the mask wearing at their hotel by vacationers and workers
and were happy the resort wasn't busy. "It was pretty easy to stay
away from people if you wanted to do that,'' she said. "The resort
employees were awesome. They were way more vigilant, I would say, generally
than people are at home.'' They went scuba diving four times and enjoyed
ocean-view dinners with their friends and family. Then Rooney tested
positive for COVID-19 two days before their flight home to Kansas City. She
didn't feel sick but wonders if a headache earlier in the trip and seasickness
while scuba diving, a regular occurrence, were COVID-19 symptoms. "After
the test I actually felt really great,'' she said. Her husband tested
negative as did the rest of the members of their group, who decided to take the
free rapid tests at the hotel in case their doctors' notes weren't accepted by
the airline. Rooney was moved to a new room at El Dorado, becoming
Mudd's neighbor a day after he was transferred there. She, too, paid for a PCR
test in her isolation room (about $185), and it was also positive. Her
husband stayed in their casita until he left on their scheduled flight home on
Jan. 30. She talked to him and other members of their group from the balcony
until they flew home. He tested positive when he returned home and had to
quarantine there. "It was really hard to be stuck in a room,'' she
said. "You could see how beautiful it was outside. Thank God I had a
balcony, though, it would have been really awful without that balcony.'' She
and Mudd became quarantine balcony buddies during isolation and shared research
on what it was going to take to get home. Rooney's days went by faster
than Mudd's because she was working remotely. At night, she ran from the
balcony to the hotel room door and back for exercise and watched TV. She
enjoyed the room service, trying fish tacos, salads, quesadillas, smoothies and
more – all, like her extended stay, for free. Unlike the room service in her
initial room at El Dorado, the quarantine room service meals were served in a
paper bag. An employee would knock on the door, stand back from it and wait
there until it was picked up. After she was done, she put any leftovers
outside the door. "I imagine that they were taking the trash and
incinerating it like it was toxic waste," she said. At the airport,
Rooney also ran into issues with American Airlines despite having a doctor's
note that she was cleared and having researched the 10-day requirement
extensively, calling airlines and waiting on hold 45 minutes to talk to someone
at the CDC. American didn't budge, and other airlines had varying
policies they said she didn't meet, so she was forced to take another rapid
test at the airport, which was negative. Rooney flew home that day,
Super Bowl Sunday, making it back in time to cheer for her Kansas City Chiefs.
Rooney said she doesn't regret going to Mexico because she didn't get sick
despite testing positive for COVID-19 and didn't miss work. She estimates the
delay cost her $500 for a new airline ticket and additional COVID-19 tests. Others
may not be so lucky, she cautions."The reality is, if you actually become
sick, you're stuck there indefinitely, honestly,'' she said. "I definitely
would not go to anywhere out of country if I was high risk or posed a risk of
losing my job if I got stuck or had small kids.''
Texas real
estate broker on 20th anniversary trip: 'We only got to really enjoy four days'
Antonio and Shelley Delgado celebrated their 20th anniversary in Cabo San
Lucas, Mexico, in February. That's the last good memory real estate
broker Antonio Delgado has of his trip to Cabo San Lucas this winter to
celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary. In early February, Delgado and
his wife, Shelley, who live outside Houston, hopped in a taxi and headed for
shrimp tacos at Taco Guss, their favorite spot. He typically orders four for
himself. "Whatever they cook that stuff in is phenomenal,'' he
said. "We dream about it when we're not there.'' The couple had
just taken the COVID-19 test they needed to board their flight home in a couple
days, but the results wouldn't be ready until that evening. They weren't
concerned about testing positive because they felt fine and are convinced they
had the virus more than a year ago, when the entire family was seriously ill
with coronavirus symptoms. Less than 10 minutes after they ordered, a
restaurant employee said their hotel called and wanted them back right away.
They decided to walk back to the beachfront Pueblo Bonito Rose instead of
taking a taxi. A manager was waiting for them and said "go straight to
your room'' and wait for a visit from a doctor, Delgado said. The doctor
told them he had tested positive, his wife, negative. Delgado was
instantly suspicious they received different results despite sharing a room.
"We're like, wait a minute, this is the first time we're away, it's
our 20th anniversary, no kids.'' He was given a PCR test, and it came
back positive the next night. The dinner plans they had tentatively made for
their last night in Cabo, so confident the first test was a false positive,
were scuttled. "Of course, I'm heartbroken,'' he said. "What
in the world? Now I'm thinking I'm stuck here. My wife is going to leave
tomorrow.'' He grew more frustrated when a hotel employee called shortly
after the test and suggested he sign up for the all-inclusive meal plan, at
$220 per day, for his extended stay. He didn't book the all-inclusive option
for his initial stay. "You're going to be here for 14 days, let's
get it set up,'' Delgado said the hotel told him. He declined the
all-inclusive option several times and said he'd do room service and order in
groceries. The hotel initially said he couldn't order in groceries in
isolation, he said. He ordered in pizza for the Super Bowl. "It was
like they were working to upsell me instead of helping me,'' he said. Pueblo
Bonito resorts don't cover the stays of guests who test positive but offers
discounted rates, for all-inclusive or stays without the food and drink plans,
and doesn't try to sell anything when a guest tests positive, spokeswoman Van
Den Heuvel said. Delgado also took issue with the stated 14-day quarantine,
noting the requirement was 10 days, and vowed to get tested every day until he
tested negative. He said the hotel told him he had to wait nearly a week for
another test at the hotel. He did, but when the doctor said the results
would take a couple days, he tried to find another provider with quicker
results so he could get home. The hotel initially wouldn't let the
outside medical professional up to his room, he said, but eventually escorted
her up with a security guard. He received the results in a few hours:
negative. He made plans to fly home the next day but not before an hourlong
conversation on the phone with United Airlines to convince the airline he
didn't need to wait 14 days after his positive test since he subsequently
tested negative. When he cleared immigration and customs in Houston, he
rejoiced. "It was like "(The) Shawshank Redemption,'' he said,
referencing the 1994 prison-escape movie. "I put my hands in the air:
Hallelujah, I'm home.'' He took another COVID-19 test in Houston, and it
was negative. The extended stay cost him $1,400 in food, hotel, airfare
and COVID-19 testing costs and time away from his family, he said. And it cut
their vacation short. "We only really got to enjoy four days,'' he
said. Delgado wouldn't risk going to Mexico on another international
trip again anytime soon. "Right now, until this (testing) stuff
clears up, I'm not leaving my country," he said.
^ I know we are
meant to feel sorry for these people, but I do not in the least. These are not
people who were travelling in the beginning of 2020 and got stuck outside the
US when the Pandemic hit (I do feel sorry for those people.) These are people
who aren’t vaccinated and aren’t doing important work. They are reckless people
who decided to travel outside the US – despite the year long advice not to –
and in a way they deserve exactly what they got. Maybe next time they will take
a Pandemic that is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans seriously. ^
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cant-believe-happening-travelers-recount-120046029.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink
