AMERICAS Central-South American Asylum Seekers Continue Attempt to Reach the US In mid-January riot police in Guatemala blocked approximately 7,000 migrants traveling north through the country in hopes of reaching the US. Violence was reported, with police deploying tear gas and using batons in clashes with migrants. This was the first mass group, or “caravan,”
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Avoiding Periscope Paralysis: Practicing Horizon Scanning and Situational Awareness for All International Travel Risks
When a submarine dives to avoid surface detection and protect itself by avoiding threats from above, it may raise its periscope from time to time to get a sense of the threat from above. If that operator just focuses on the one threat that drove them below without using its other senses – like radar
Read MoreDetermining a Travel Restart Strategy That Makes Sense for Your Organization
While vaccine roll outs are a major step in the right direction, we know that many organizations still have questions around when to restart travel, and, once they do, what traveling in the new normal will actually look like. To help answer these questions, On Call’s team of experts created our Travel Restart Program to
Read MoreCOVID-19 Vaccines & Travel: Q+A with On Call’s Chief Medical Officer: Part 2
The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines has inspired optimism around restarting travel. According to On Call’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Siegart, “Receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is a vital step toward beating this pandemic and will ultimately play a pivotal role in creating more confidence around travel in the months to come.” Dr. Siegart says he’s seen
Read MoreCOVID-19 Vaccines & Travel: Q+A with On Call’s Chief Medical Officer – Part 1
The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines has inspired optimism around restarting travel. According to On Call’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Siegart, “Receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is a vital step toward beating this pandemic and will ultimately play a pivotal role in creating more confidence around travel in the months to come.” Dr. Siegart says he’s seen
Read MoreCOVID-19 Testing and Travel: What Travelers Need to Know
After months of staying home, many people are anxious to get back out in the world. An important–and now essential–step of the travel planning process is getting tested for COVID-19. According to On Call’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. William Siegart, “A negative COVID-19 test result is certainly not an excuse to let one’s guard down,
Read MoreThe Status and Outlook of International Travel in 2021
In the first quarter of 2020, global travel was severely disrupted due to the emergence of the COVID-19 virus, the subsequent declaration of a global pandemic, and the gradual implementation of international travel restrictions by nearly every country. Throughout the remainder of the year, most countries took a guarded approach to reopening their borders. Various
Read MoreHelping Travelers Every Day: Medical Evacuation of a Patient With a Mental Illness During a Pandemic [Case Study]
On Call’s mission has always been helping travelers in their time of need, every day, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been no different. The pandemic presented some interesting challenges, unique barriers, and extremely nuanced complications amid our efforts to return people home, but nothing that our Global Assistance teams couldn’t handle! Read our latest case
Read MoreTRM in 2021: Trends, Information & Resources for the New Year
Happy New Year! As vaccinations continue to roll out, 2021 is beginning on a note of hopefulness. While the year likely won’t be on par with pre-COVID travel, the vaccine is a huge step in the right direction and reminds us that the international travel sector is ready to bounce back. However, even with all this
Read MoreMonthly Risk Spotlight: December 2020
AMERICAS Brazen Brazilian Bank Robberies Two small cities in different regions of Brazil were hit by brazen bank robberies within 24 hours of each other on 1-2 December. In the first incident, dozens of gunmen arrived in the city of Criciúma, in southern Brazil, in a convoy of vehicles and robbed a branch of Banco
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