Lisa called me yesterday in a panic. Despite being ultra-careful these past weeks and not socializing with anyone, she had just tested positive for COVID-19. Her trip of a lifetime to Antarctica for which she had saved up for so long, and which she booked more than a year ago, fell apart before her eyes. She saw $65,000 flushed down the drain.
We had strict protocols in place for her trip - an antigen test prior to entering the USA, a PCR test prior to boarding her charter flight and cruise ship - all were designed to keep any COVID cases away from this trip. We even chartered a private plane from Miami to fly all cruise passengers in their own bubble directly to the ship in Ushuaia, Argentina.
Lisa had planned to fly to Miami on the 4th, where she would go into isolation until boarding her flight to Ushuaia on the 6th. Because of this itinerary, Lisa's tests were scheduled for the 3rd (antigen within one day from entry into the US) and the morning of the 4th (PCR test for entry into Argentina on the 7th and boarding her ship the same day).
But with a positive antigen test, Lisa's holiday was over before it even started.
I advised Lisa to get another rapid test as these types of test are notoriously unreliable. And sure enough, her second test came back negative. The question now was, which test had returned the incorrect result?
This is where the PCR test came in. I advised Lisa to change her flight from Toronto to Miami to the 5th so she could still take her PCR test on the 4th AND know her results prior to boarding a flight. This to protect other passengers from any bugs Lisa might be carrying.
An anxious night followed and this morning Lisa was at her local test centre nice and early. And it was with much relief that she received her PCR test result this morning - it was negative.
Holiday saved, let the trip of a lifetime begin!
Happy Trails Lisa!
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