You will find more information from each of our carriers about how they're managing COVID-19 coverage and additional resources to help you while traveling. Our goal is to keep you healthy, safe, educated and covered during the pandemic.
Select carriers have plans that cover sickness, medical evacuations and return of remains due to COVID-19. Always double check the plan documents or reach out to the insurance carrier directly before purchasing a plan to confirm that coverage is provided, since the coverage landscape is extremely fluid due to the impact on the healthcare systems of countries internationally due to COVID-19 influxes and limitations based on threat levels placed on countries by the CDC, WHO and U.S. Department of State.
COVID-19 coverage through Tokio Marine is dependent on travel threat levels issued by the CDC.
Atlas Plan Exclusions
Charges resulting from a disease outbreak in a country or location where the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
1. have issued a level 3 travel warning are excluded if:the warning has been in effect within the 6 months immediately prior to your date of arrival, or
2. you fail to depart the country or location within 10 days following the date the warning is issued.
StudentSecure Plan Exclusions
Any illness or injury incurred as a result of epidemics, pandemics, public health emergencies, natural disasters, or other disease outbreak conditions that may affect a person’s health is excluded when, prior to your effective date, any of the following were issued:
1. The United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention had issued a Warning/Alert Level 3 or higher for a location or destination, including common carriers; or
2. The United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention had issued a Global or Worldwide Warning/Alert Level 3 or higher
This exclusion is applicable when:
1. any of the above were in effect within 6 months immediately prior to your effective date or
2. within 10 days following the date the alert/warning is issued you have failed to depart the country or location
This exclusion does NOT apply to charges resulting from COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2.
For more information, visit the Tokio Marine COVID-19 Resource Page.
Our platform currently doesn't carry any Seven Corners plans that provide COVID-19 coverage. They do, however, have a specific plan directly through their website that provides COVID-19 coverage.
For more information, visit Seven Corner's COVID-19 Resource Page.
Trawick international provides short-term medical coverage including medical evacuations and return of remains while you're traveling internationally. As with other plans, there's varying levels of coverage that you would select during the checkout process.
For both inside and outside the U.S., you can be covered if you get sick from COVID-19 as long as you're infected after the effective date of your policy. Threat levels of the country you're visiting does not affect your medical coverage.
For more information, visit Trawick International's COVID-19 Resource Page.
As of March 27th, 2020, there is no coverage for COVID-19 under IMG's short-term travel medical plans for any travel destination since the CDC has issued a Global Warning Level 3 to avoid nonessential travel.
For more information, visit INF International's COVID-19 Resource Page.
As of March 27th, 2020, there is no coverage for COVID-19 under INF's short-term travel medical plans for any travel destination since the CDC has issued a Global Warning Level 3 to avoid nonessential travel.
INF does not have a COVID-19 resource page available.
According to the CDC, A novel coronavirus is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified. The virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is not the same as the coronaviruses that commonly circulate among humans and cause mild illness, like the common cold.
On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”. There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused by a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans. More detailed information about the prevention, spread and impact of COVID-19 can be found on the CDC's FAQ page.
COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Infected people have had a wide range of symptoms reported – from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19 - please go to your nearest available testing facility if you're experiencing any of these symptoms:
Look for emergency warning signs for COVID-19. If someone is showing any of these signs, seek emergency medical care immediately:
If you have purchased a Travel Medical Plan, then you can find a list of available healthcare providers for your specific plan by clicking the button below:
We've compiled some recommendations from the WHO and CDC if you still have plans to travel internationally. These are meant to be guidelines to keep you safe and help prevent the potential for catching COVID-19 and possible spread if you're an active carrier.
Perform hand hygiene frequently. Hand hygiene includes either cleaning hands with soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand rub. Alcohol-based hand rubs are preferred.
It is highly recommended to wear a M-95 mask to protect yourself from airborne pathogens if you happen to come in contact with someone who is an active carrier.
Always cover your nose and mouth with a flexed elbow or paper tissue when coughing or sneezing. This includes if you are wearing a mask.
Refrain from touching your mouth and nose, since this is one of the easiest ways to transmit the virus into your system. Also, try to avoid touching as many shared surfaces as possible.
Try to keep the 6ft (2m) rule in place when traveling. Social distancing can help prevent the spread of the virus, since you're not as in close of contact with potential carriers.
Do you already have a fever or are you exhibiting any of the COVID-19 symptoms? If the answer is yes, then you should consider getting tested and delaying your travel for at least 14 days until your symptoms have subsided and you're no longer contagious.
Are you aged 60+? If the answer is yes, you might want to re-consider your travel plans. The demographic with the highest number of COVID-19 related complications and deaths has been in people aged 60+, with pre-existing conditions, so it might be worth delaying your trip or getting expanded medical coverage.
According to the CDC, there are some defined pre-existing conditions that increase the possibility of complications of a COVID-19 infection. These include asthma, cerebrovascular disease, cystic fibrosis, hypertension, immunocompromised states, neurological conditions (i.e. dementia), liver disease, pregnancy, pulminary fibrosis, smoking, thalassemia, and diabetes. Additional information can be found on the CDC website.
During this time you should take certain steps to keep track of your health status and practice social distancing. Some suggestions of tracking your health include:
If you're experience COVID-19 symptoms, then you should take the following precautions to avoid getting others sick and to make sure you have a smooth recovery:
As of July 1st, 2020 there have been:
Accoding to the Mayo Clinic, It's unclear exactly how contagious the new coronavirus is. Data has shown that it spreads from person to person among those in close contact (within about 6 feet, or 2 meters). The virus spreads by respiratory droplets released when someone with the virus coughs, sneezes or talks.
The incubation period, or period of time it takes from catching the virus to showing symptoms, can vary anywhere from 1 day to 14 days. The majority of population who has had COVID-19 tend to show symptoms around day 5.
The virus is spread from droplets that come from the mucus and saliva of someone who is infected. When the person coughs or sneezes, these droplets containing the virus can come in direct contact with people through airborne transmission or land on surfaces. This can also happen by someone coughing on their hands then not washing them before touching other surfaces. This is why social distancing and diligent hand hygiene is so important to prevent the spread of the virus.
There are two categories of people who have been confirmed to be high risk individuals:
1. People who have pre-existing conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight, and other conditions)
2. People who are older (60 years)+
Check out our "Who should consider delaying travel to affected areas" section of this page to get more information and links ot additional resources to help you make informed decisions on your next trip.
There are two kinds of tests that are administered in 3 different ways to figure out if you currently have COVID-19 or had it previously. Active testing, generally done through nose and throat swabs, will show if someone who is sick from COVID-19 through digital PCR technology. Antibody testing, which is taken through blood samples, looks at if your body is a carrier of the virus even if you are asymptomatic (not showing symptoms). You will need to check with your provider network to see what kind of testing they offer if you feel you need to be testing if you're actively showing symptoms while you're traveling.
There is no COVID-19 vaccine as of 7/1/2020. There is a worldwide effort from multiple countries to develop a vaccine with many in clinical trials expediting the development. However, the average development time of a vaccine can be 5+ years.
As of July 1st, 2020, the following countries have confirmed or active COVID-19 cases:
Africas
African Territories
Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean Territories
Americas
Americas Territories
South-East Asia
Europe
Western pacific
Western Pacific Territories
This will be dependent on the terms of the plan you signed up with through your carrier. Some carriers do have full coverage for COVID-19 related illnesses, even for areas that are considered level-3 threat by the CDC. Others waive coverage for these areas. Please make sure to read the plan documents in detail before buying your plan to make sure that you're fully covered.
Unfortunately, most plans will not provide coverage if you've already been diagnosed with COVID-19 and plan to travel in the near future. This would be considered a non-covered pre-existing condition.
However, there are plans that will provide coverage for pre-existing conditions. Reach out to your potential carrier to confirm if this is the case with the plan you're interested in buying.
The primary excluding factor for COVID-19 coverage is based on the threat level that's issued by the CDC. Since March 27th, 2020 there has been a gloabl threat level 3, which is the normal indicator as it if a plan would provide COVID-19 coverage or not. Double check with your plan documents and reach out to a carrier who's plan you might be interest in to confirm if it will provide coverage.
The fallout of COVID-19 has seen many cancelled and delayed flights due to destinations being locked down because of new outbreaks. You will want to keep up to date by checking health and travel advisories on the Department of State, CDC and WHO's websites. We also keep our travel advisories up to date from these sources on our Covered Traveler travel advisory page. .
This question will ultimately have to be answered by you with the information you have available. You'll want to determine the multiple factors of risk that you may be encountering and ask yourself some questions like:
1. Do I have any pre-existing conditions?
2. Is the area I'm traveling to heavily impacted by COVID-19?
3. Is there a travel ban on the area I want to travel to?
4. Even if I'm healthy, will catching COVID-19 potentially expose the virus to people in my household who might be high risk?
If you do decide you want to cancel, then you'll need to look into your airline, hotel and insurance cancellation policies and work directly with each to work on potential refunds, vouchers, credits or rescheduling.
We hope that our initial overview of COVID-19 and the precautions you should take on your international trips was helpful. We wanted to include additional, detailed resources for COVID-19 related information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO) and other reputable sources for you to use as you continue to do your research. You can access these by clicking on the external website links below:
