When Ken McElroy decided to go to Belize after a business trip to Miami last June, he wasn't worried about contracting Covid-19, he said."I was like, there's no way I'll get it," he told CNBC.After 10 days in Belize, the couple took Covid tests the day before their flight back to Arizona. Though he was feeling tired and she had a cough, both were surprised when their tests came back positive.
While some companies evacuate travelers who require hospitalization, Covac Global retrieves travelers who test positive for Covid-19 test and have one self-reported symptom. About 85% of evacuees are returned home, while the rest need hospital attention, said CEO Ross Thompson., they were performing about two to three medical evacuations every month. Now, that number has climbed to about 12 to 20.
So-called "breakthrough infections" caused by the highly contagious delta variant mean vaccinated people, too, can find themselves sick — or stuck — far from home. About 60% of current evacuees are vaccinated, said Thompson, because "they are the ones that feel most comfortable to travel now."Courtesy of Ken McElroy
Calls for assistance are above pre-pandemic levels, said Medjet CEO John Gobbels, though they aren't all related to the pandemic. McElroy called his fiancee "the hero of the story," since she had pushed for and eventually purchased their evacuation policies.CNBC spoke with a 43-year-old Singaporean man who attempted to move from India back to Singapore last April to start a new job. The journey — which can be a mere six-hour flight — turned into a six-week saga. The man requested anonymity for this report.
Due to lack of space, Covid-19 patients spill into the hallways of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal on May 11, 2021."We knew nobody," he said. "We knew nothing of the medical system, and people are dying, left, right and center without beds and without oxygen."