So what is the advice if you have a holiday outside of the UK coming up – or if you’re thinking of booking one?
To begin with, it is worth keeping a close eye on the latest advice from the Foreign Office website, as this is where all travel and leisure companies are getting their guidance from.
Industry bodies advise booking with established and trustworthy companies – and, if possible, with businesses that offer a degree of protection.
They also recommend that holidaymakers get travel insurance, and that people follow advice from Public Health England while they are abroad.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office updates travel advice for individual countries on a daily basis. When a situation deteriorates significantly, it will often change its travel advice to warn against some travel to that country – as they did for China.
Any changes to FCO guidance place a requirement on travel firms to take that into consideration.