Health officials in a growing number of countries are increasing measures to try to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Clusters of the illness continued to balloon outside mainland China, pushing into areas seen as among the worst-equipped to deal with an outbreak as well as some of the world's richest nations.

Italy had taken Europe's most stringent preventative measures against COVID-19  and yet is now home to the biggest outbreak outside Asia. 

This now has people around the world wondering what to do when it comes to their travel plans.

David Yeskel is a travel journalist known as The Cruise Guru and The Vegas Guru® because of his travel industry experience and expertise. He says it’s important for travellers to be able to separate perception from reality when it comes to the coronavirus and their vacation plans.

Any time you travel there is the risk of disease, but Yeskel says there are also steps people can take that increase their odds of staying healthy.

“For example, cruise passengers can take simple precautions to stay healthy onboard by first making use of the hand-sanitizing stations at the entrance to dining venues on major cruise lines,” he says. “I’ve also carried a pocket sanitizer to use at my table after I’ve perused a menu or shake hands with new tablemates.”

So far more than 80,000 people have been infected with coronavirus or COVID 19 worldwide, and more than 2700 people have died.