Items

• 2021-06-03

  Traveling overseas during Covid

  My wife and I decided to travel to Greece immediately after the initial lockdown and when the travel restrictions were lifted. It was a difficult decision to take such a long trip during the pandemic, and especially since we had to travel through Germany in order to get to our final destination. Restrictions varied among countries, and the fear of another lockdown before returning to the United States made our trip quite stressful. Despite the circumstances, we decided to follow through with our plans because my wife needed to get a medical procedure done, and the doctor of her choice operates in Greece. After checking and double-checking all the required travel documents, we found out that we needed to provide negative Covid tests at the airport in Chicago in order to board the plane. It was unclear whether we would need to take another Covid test in Germany and upon arriving to Greece, but we both got our tests and headed to O’Hare international airport. When we entered the airport, we couldn’t believe the long lines ahead of us. We made sure to get there 3 hours before our scheduled flight, and we waited in line so we could show proof of our test results. After a 40-minute wait, it was finally our turn. We handed in our tests and waited patiently while the lady at the desk was looking at them with a perplexed look on her face. “You can’t get on this flight”, she said. “Your tests expired 30 minutes ago. You need to get new tests”, she added. We were stunned since we had both gotten out tests the day before, and the rules stated that the tests would be valid for 24 hours. The airline employee was telling us that we had missed the 24-hour deadline by half an hour. When we realized that the rule was very strict and there was no way we could get on the plane without taking new tests, we found out that we could get tested at the airport and get the results within 20-30 minutes. We both rushed to get new tests, but we were surprised to find out that the cost was $200 for each test. That was an added expense of $400 that we hadn’t planned for, the trip was very expensive, and we also had to pay for my wife’s medical bills in Greece. It was Wednesday evening, we would arrive in Greece on Thursday evening, and my wife’s appointment at the hospital was Friday morning. If we didn’t make that flight, we wouldn’t arrive in Greece on time for my wife’s scheduled operation. We had no choice but to get tested. While all of that was happening, time was going by and there was a risk we wouldn’t make it to our flight on time. My wife got so overwhelmed and stressed out that at some point she sat on her suitcase and started crying in the middle of the airport. I gathered all my strength and patience and helped her get up and pull it together so we could run for the tests, get the results, and run back to check in. At that point I realized that we weren’t the only ones going through that situation. There was chaos around us, people arguing with employees, getting upset and shouting, other people crying, people who didn’t speak English and were trying to figure out what to do, families with kids running around frantically, and everyone was complaining that the rules hadn’t been clear. It was a huge mess, and we were in the midst of all that trying to get everything done. We were able to get on a different flight that night, and we made it to Greece safely and on time for my wife’s hospital appointment. When I reflect back, I realize that there was indeed a lack of clear rules, and the whole situation could have been avoided if the airlines had provided more accurate guidelines. I have traveled internationally hundreds of times in my life, but I had never experienced anything like that before. I understand that the situation was new for everyone involved, and when I think back, I don’t get upset about it anymore, but that was definitely one of the most stressful travels I have ever had.
• 
  2021-05

  Financial vs. Public Health In Planning for Art Fairs

  When Art Basel, Hong Kong did happen I remember the internal debate within the art advisory where I worked at the time of whether or not clients and members of the team could or would attend. 
 New considerations arose for the businesses and people like me who worked in administration and logistics. There were major complications that none of us had previously faced in planning for art fair events, client dinners and logistics. For example, booking flights was complicated. In the case of Hong Kong, some people had no choice but to reroute in strange places due to restrictions of certain passport holders or location of origin. Another consideration, were the fancy client and networking dinners that are staples of the art fair culture and booked months in advance. Due to closure or half-capacity seating, many of the premier restaurants were no longer feasible to solidify reservations.
• 
  2020-11-17

  "Art Basel in Hong Kong postponed to May as coronavirus throws 2021 art fairs into disarray"

  Anny Shaw writes for The Art Newspaper about the postponement of the 2020 edition of Art Basel, Hong Kong. The art fair was previously cancelled in February one month ahead its standard date in mid-March. It was tentatively rescheduled for May 2021 in hopes of vaccination and improvement in daily numbers of contraction and death rates.
• 2021-08-06

  Times of Covid-19

  When Covid first started and we got the news we had to leave school for 3 weeks at first it was exciting because we just thought that we were getting extra fun weeks of spring break. After the three weeks, we didn't get to come back to school and it was rough because none of us knew what we were doing, we kinda had to learn by ourselves. All of my grades and begun to drop and it was not a fun time I would have rather been at school than that. Now a year later I have had and still have to retake classes to earn my credits and it really honestly sucks. Other than that literally right before school started we had taken a trip to Tennessee so that my younger sister and I could meet our older sisters and because of Covid we didn't get to go down there again until August of 2019 which was a whole year later.
• 
  2020-06-24

  Atlantic Canadian Provinces Form Travel Bubble

  This document is a statement from the Council of Atlantic Premiers detailing the formation of the Atlantic bubble, which permitted travel between the different Canadian Atlantic provinces.
• 
  2020-05-29

  Student-generated map shows COVID-19 travel restrictions in Northern Canada

  An undergraduate student at the University of Alberta created a map of travel restrictions and road closures in Canada's North in an effort to document how Indigenous and remote communities are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2020-03-29

  Start of 14 days of quarantine

  Since March 2020, the Chinese government requires a mandatory 14-day quarantine in hotels for everyone who enters the country to ensure no cases from aboard will cause transmission within the country. This is the confirmation letter that I received after I was placed in the quarantine hotel, it indicates the date and time of my entry and the time of the end of quarantine.
• 
  2020-10-20

  Online for First Semester of College

  This is important because it affected my ability to have the first semester on campus at UNLV. The government implemented multiple travel restrictions throughout the U.S. This affected many college student's abilities to live on campus in college. For this semester, I am staying at home, not being able to experience college dorms or the college experience due to the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10-07

  Military Edition

  this story is important to me because members who are serving in the armed force, will understand and relate to the struggles that I went through during this pandemic.
• 
  2020-03-20

  COVID warning on TV

  Image from weather channel showing a warning for COVID-19
• 
  2020-04-09

  Kimberley Bulletin: Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Responses

  A regular Covid-19 bulletin issued to local indigenous community members and health providers describing hygiene practices, local travel and safe distancing restrictions, background information on covid-19 and available social support using terminology and cultural examples specific to the region. For example, a 'sorry camp' is special area where visiting relatives would stay when attending a funeral in a community, as communities can be extremely far apart. These are subject to the country-wide limit of a maximum 10 people at funerals current at the time of publication. Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities are considered to be at higher risk of severe impacts from Covid-19 than the wider population due to their higher level of chronic health issues, frequently crowded households, and long distance from healthcare. The Kimberley region of Western Australia has unique travel restrictions in place to limit movement between the four Shires, in addition to restrictions on movement across different regions of Western Australia and lockdowns of individual indigenous communities.
• 
  2020-03-19

  Navajo Nation Urges Citizens to Stay Home as Total Number of Positive COVID-19 Test Results Reaches 14

  Press Release from Office of President and Vice President, Navajo Nation