Well, the nefarious travel gods have hurled yet another lightning bolt in my direction. It probably hasn't wiped out my visit to Lake Como, but it sets up yet another hurdle for me to trip over.
Because the response to the Covid pandemic by a large segment of the American people has -- as it were -- sucked, Europe has grown increasingly nervous about allowing loud, laughing, gregarious American tourists, however free-spending, to traipse across their borders, accompanied by their nasty viruses. Therefore, the EU announced this week that it was removing the United States from its "safe travel" list.
And Italy responded.
Beginning tomorrow, vaccinated Americans also will have to present negative results to a Covid test, evidence that they aren't shedding Covid viruses despite being vaccinated and despite having no apparent symptoms of the disease.
It's a reasonable reaction by the Italian government. According to the New York Times, Italy as a whole has, averaged over the past seven days, only eleven new cases of Covid-19 per day for every 100,000 in population. The United States, by contrast, has 48. And even my own county in the State of Washington -- one of the safer parts of the country in which to live -- has 28.
No, the problem isn't with the reasonableness of Italy's new regulation. My problem is that it was imposed with about two days' notice. I'm flying out of Seattle early in the morning of September 8, and will arrive in Rome early in the morning (Italian time) of September 9. Suddenly, I have to search for a place in which to be tested, make reservations to do so, and have the test completed and the result in hand no earlier than 72 hours before arrival in Italy, and no later than departure from Seattle.
Luckily, I think I've done it. I've made a reservation for an antigen test at 10:45 a.m. on Monday, September 6. The outfit offering the tests seems reputable, and is operating out of a Hilton hotel near the airport. The price seems outrageous, especially when, with a little more time, I could have received free testing in my own neighborhood. But you get what you pay for. I hope.
The instructions assure me that if at any point during the procedure, I don't wish to continue, I will be free to leave with no hard feelings on their part. That's very reassuring. I can already feel their swab probing deep, ever deeper, into my nose. "Oops, broke through to your brain! Sorry if that smarts!"
Be assured you'll receive a blow by blow report of my ordeal. Especially if the test results are positive. With my trip thus canceled, I'll have lots of time to devote to this, my cherished blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment