The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has resulted in many people deciding to “self-quarantine” out of an abundance of caution. Many are considering working from home, if not doing so already, while others are reviewing upcoming travel plans.

In Westchester County, where I live, there is a one-mile-radius containment area within the city of New Rochelle, where schools are closed and the National Guard has been enlisted to deliver food. Just this week, Santa Clara County announced a pending ban on public gatherings over 1,000 people in attempts to contain and slow the spread of coronavirus. And it was recently reported that Washington State will ban gatherings of more than 250 people.

Personally, over the weekend our family decided to cancel a spring break cruise. Between the concerns about our school-aged children needing to “self-quarantine” after our return and concerns about clearance for me and my wife to return to work, it didn't seem to make sense.

The decision was not an easy one, considering potential financial impacts of tickets, hotels and other pre-paid bookings weighed against potential illness and our family being quarantined upon our return to the United States. The airline offered a credit for future travel if booked within one year of the original purchase or a refund of most of the money but for a processing charge. The cruise line provided a full credit against a future cruise if booked by the end of 2021.

Those last few sentences took less than one minute to write and more than six hours, many of them on hold, to accomplish. It seems most everyone is making the same decision. The health and safety of loved ones often “wins” over financial decisions, as it did for my family. However there is a ripple effect on others, for example:

• fewer visitors (or those working in an area) may reduce restaurant visits, impacting restaurant employees' wages/tips and the owner’s ability to pay taxes and mortgage obligations
• lower sales tax collections
• insufficient firewall/wifi protections while working from home, potentially compromising company servers

Government and school district administrators are no doubt considering:

• the potential lost revenues upon which they may have based current fiscal operation
• how those losses may impact next year’s budget
• whether to ban large gatherings such as France and Spain have announced
• whether to quarantine an entire region as Italy has recently announced