The media coverage on the coronavirus has led to a lot of fear and uncertainty for many travelers. My trip to Las Vegas over spring break, with the articles I've seen, has left a looming uneasiness for the future of our economy. Although just a handful of people were wearing masks, it made the coronavirus pandemic seem surreal. In an attempt to make light of the issue, I kept thinking the masks are obsolete unless a person is actually sick. But that led to thinking these people were actually sick and trying to avoid getting others sick.
Along with seeing masks, the smell of hand sanitizer permeated around certain people, myself included, and people spent more time washing their hands in the restrooms. Chime the Happy Birthday song.
At the hotels and casinos, many people seemed oblivious to any news updates on the virus. It was as if nothing was going on. People gambled, exchanged money, shook hands, and continued to visit the buffets. If there were people wearing masks, they were mostly pulled down around their necks. A pointless purchase, and attention grabber.
In order to enjoy my trip, I pushed any worry away from my mind. I mean, just like the flu, the virus seems to be more of a risk for people with chronic conditions, or the elderly.
On the wait to go home, I had about three hours to kill before my flight took off. As I ate my dinner, colleges had begun to announce extended spring breaks with the possibility to go fully online, if possible. The governor of NC had declared a state of emergency, and the president suspended flying to Europe for 30 days. There was also an update on the TV that the NBA had cancelled the rest of the season. From there, more e-mails came in from companies either canceling or postponing events, or working to sanitize better. This seemed to continue to escalate with something new every time I pulled up Facebook.
The flight home felt different. More conversations floated around about the virus and the effects this will have on the economy. We seem to be heading towards a nationwide quarantine with a negative outlook on what the future looks like. The direction the economy is taking is out of our control regardless of how much we talk about the flu being worse than this virus.
The coronavirus seems to have been blown up by the media, leading to many changes coming our way for the next thirty to sixty days… for now. As long as companies are still willing to provide services for traveling, there doesn't seem to be a need to freak out and ruin a good time away. For now, we just wait.
