Last Updated: Wednesday, April 15, 2020
COVID-19 travel insurance for coronavirus coverage
It’s difficult to keep up with warnings and updates from the CDC, the U.S. Department of States, various countries, the World Health Organization, and so on during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Everyone has one simple questions: “Will my travel insurance cover COVID-19”? This article provides and overview of different types of travel insurance, travel medical insurance, and trip cancellation as they apply specifically to coronavirus coverage.
Coronavirus Travel Insurance FAQ
The CDC confirmed the first case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Jan 21, 2020. After that date, the types of coverage available in new travel insurance policies purchased becomes limited.
Coronavirus and Travel Insurance
An outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus, called COVID-19, occurred in the city of Wuhan in central China in December 2019. It has since spread around the world causing major outbreaks. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization made the assessment to characterize COVID-19 as a pandemic. The number of confirmed cases worldwide continues to climb and everyone is looking for answers as the number of people infected with COVID-19 grows every day.
COVID-19 can spread rapidly from person to person. Common symptoms of the 2019 novel coronavirus are similar to flu or pneumonia type symptoms; it can infect the lungs and cause more serious symptoms such as fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should obtain medical care. At this time, there is no vaccine available to prevent catching the virus.
On March 27, 2020, the CDC issued a Global Level 3 Travel Warning.
Prior to that, as of March, 26, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued Level 3 Travel Health Notices for the following countries:
- China (Jan 6)
- South Korea (Feb 24)
- Iran (Feb 28)
- Most European countries* (March 11)
- United Kingdom and Ireland (March 15)
- Malaysia (March 18)
- Australia (March 21)
- Brazil (March 21)
- Canada (March 21)
- Japan (March 21)
- Israel (March 21)
- Chile (March 23)
- Pakistan (March 23)
- Thailand (March 23)
- Ecuador (March 24)
- India (March 24)
- Indonesia (March 24)
- Philippines (March 24)
- Qatar (March 24)
- Romania (March 24)
- Saudi Arabia (March 24)
- Singapore (March 24)
- South Africa (March 24)
- Russia (March 25)
- Argentina (March 26)
- Panama (March 26)
*The European countries under a Level 3 Travel Health Notice as of March 11 are as follows: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, and Wales.