I live in NYC. Full of tourists. I check people in, onto cruise ships, for a living. I encounter tourists as a job. I am more concerned about Americans that don’t know basic hygiene than I am about tourists. People who will put their passports in their mouths before giving them to me, to inspect. People who lick paper before giving it to me. People who cough into their hands before giving me something. People who don’t cover their faces at all when coughing or sneezing. Then they let their kids roll around on the dirty floor. I go into the bathroom and people don’t wash their hands.
All things considered, I think our airports have done a fine job of screening people, to avoid the CV from getting into the U.S., for the most part. I also think that China has done well with travel restrictions. I am also doing my part to screen for who is going on these cruises.
Still, there’s people, right now, who are afraid to go to Chinatown or eat Chinese food, for fear they’ll get the CV. I don’t care, I would eat Chinese and Japanese food all week, if I could afford it.
I get tired of hearing Americans and other Westerners express these fears of CV, because it really does more harm to community than good. I mean, imagine if I avoided all children, at church, because I was afraid their parents didn’t vaccinate them? That would look bad, right?
And sure, not having the blood at all would be a more indirect statement, but it is still a statement that says, “we don’t trust our tourists to be honest about their health and stay home.”
It’s really up to you and your parish though. Not judging.
