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New Negative Coronavirus Testing Requirements for Travelers<\/strong><\/p>\n The new requirement applies to all airline passengers ages 2 and older including U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. Even if you\u2019ve been vaccinated, you\u2019ll still need to provide proof of a negative test.<\/p>\n Travelers flying from U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are exempt from this order.<\/p>\n How Do You Get a Coronavirus Test Before Your Flight?<\/strong><\/p>\n Testing protocols are already in place in a number of popular getaway destinations.<\/p>\n The Costa Rica Tourism Institute is working with private labs to offer tests throughout the country. In Los Cabos, the tourism board is working with the public and private sector as well as with airport officials to ensure access to testing. And the Aruba Tourism Authority says the island has hospitals and medical facilities that offer PCR tests to outbound travelers, with an average turnaround time of 24 hours.<\/p>\n In addition, many top hotel brands in international destinations such as Mexico, the Caribbean, Tahiti, and Costa Rica will have testing facilities located inside the hotels, or they have plans to partner with local companies to provide the tests. Be prepared for test prices that range from free to $250 per person.<\/p>\n Some destinations already require some type of COVID-19 insurance coverage or a health visa.<\/p>\n Aruba Visitors Insurance covers medical- and non-medical expenses if you test positive for COVID-19 while you\u2019re in Aruba, with maximum coverage of $75,000. The cost is $30 for travelers ages 15 and older; $10 for ages 14 and under.<\/p>\n The cost for the Bahamas\u2019 health travel visa starts at $40 (ages 10 and under are free). The island of Jamaica charges $40 for $50,000 in coverage for medical emergencies and $100,000 while traveling to and from Jamaica.<\/p>\n Other types of health insurance coverage may be required by an individual hotel, resort or by the government at your destination. Typically, you should have coverage for related medical expenses if you test positive and need to remain in place (up to $500 per day) for an extended period of time.<\/p>\n If you are required to get a health visa, be aware that it may involve getting a COVID test. Here are the latest Caribbean travel protocols for U.S. visitors and details on entry and exit requirements.<\/p>\n Many other countries around the world require foreign travelers to have medical travel insurance in order to gain entry. This has become necessary due to an increase in unsettled medical bills from foreign travelers.<\/p>\n The travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth gives a detailed breakdown of the list of countries that require travel insurance, and explains in-depth which standards you must meet if you are planning an international trip. Check out the Squaremouth Guide to Travel Insurance for the Coronavirus Pandemic which explains what kind of coverage is available.<\/p>\n Due to the new complexities of entry and exit requirements, consider booking any international trip with a travel agent. Find an agent in your neighborhood at the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) or the Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA).<\/p>\n What If You Want to Cancel Your Travel Plans?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you already have an international plane ticket, what if you want to cancel? Most major airlines have announced that any fare difference for customers with travel scheduled through February 9, 2021, will be waived. Affected customers may rebook in the same cabin of service with no charge for the same origin and destination. The new travel must start on or before January 25.<\/p>\n Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n Expect this requirement to be in place at least as long as the virus cases remain high. This new requirement could definitely have an impact on your international trip budget with the costs of testing and mandatory trip insurance.<\/p>\n If you absolutely must travel, consider keeping trips within the U.S. And make sure you determine the protocols in place regarding quarantines mask mandates and more at your destination. Check with the official state websites before you commit to travel plans.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”About Nelsonecom” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n About Nelsonecom<\/strong><\/a> [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZobirSkz9p4″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an order that will soon affect all air passengers entering the United States. They must provide digital or written proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before their flights. Airlines will deny boarding to those failing to comply. And those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" We examined all, along with the granddaddy, Skype, which started the video chat explosion back in 2003 and WebEx, which used to only be available for a fee, but now has a free tier.<\/p> No other app has been pushed as aggressively this year. There's an extensive TV campaign touting how Meet, which formerly charged a subscription, is now 100% free through Sept. 30. (Google has decided to keep it free forever, with paid upgrades for subscribers of the G Suite.)<\/p> And beyond the airwaves, Google has looked to make Meet a daily staple for Google users, by inserting tabs within Gmail, the most popular e-mail program, to start or join a Google Meet.<\/p> Compared to Zoom, Meet is very much of a bare-bones app. You can connect to people for a video meet, and have up to 100 in the room. The silly bonus features seen on Zoom of adding a blurry background to your image are not there. You can share your screen, as with Zoom, and access different cameras or microphones. However, you can't record the call, something Zoom and other programs allow, unless you're a paid subscribers to G Suite.<\/p> Tools like background blur, whiteboarding and hand raising are features Google says are \"coming soon.\"<\/p> Meet's best feature, however, is maddening. Google will display a transcript of your call, in real time, and it gets the words pretty much right on. Fantastic! But does it offer translation for those speaking in different languages? Nope.<\/p> Can you download the transcript afterwards to have notes of the meeting? Nope to that, too.<\/p> With Zoom, there are hundreds of third-party apps that enhance the experience, including building transcriptions and translations, from the apps Otter.ai and Lingmo.)<\/p> Google limits the amount of time you can chat for free to one hour. Zoom allows 40 minutes.<\/p> An app aimed at enterprise has stepped up to the plate during the pandemic by offering its services for free. WebEx doesn't charge you for meetings of up to 50 minutes, with as many as 100 people in the room. For features like higher-resolution video recordings saved to the cloud and longer meetings, rates start at $13.50 monthly.<\/p> Rate: 3.5 stars. WebEx is just as easy to connect to as Zoom is, and it gets a brownie point for a cleaner, less cluttered menu with an easier to read \"Mute\" button front and center. That should help some audio-challenged attendees and make it easier for the rest ofus to hear what's being said on the meetings. This is the app that popularized video chat, especially for free communication (Skype to Skype calls) with loved ones overseas, and it still offers all that. But the neglect from corporate owner Microsoft, and emphasis on Teams (see below), perhaps explains why Skype isn't even in the top 50 rankings on the iOS and Google Play charts.<\/p> Skype's problem has always been that it was buggy. You could only initiate a chat with someone if they connected with you first and became a member of your contacts. And both parties had to download the hefty Skype app.<\/p> This remains true today, but Skype now has a Zoom-like \"instant meeting\" feature that lets people connect to you without downloads or registration. This usually works, until it doesn't. Just ask my brother, who couldn't see me on his screen when we tested it this week.<\/p> Teams is not just a video conference program but an element of a huge Microsoft business messaging app aimed at enterprise. Anyone with a Microsoft account can use Teams and have as many as 50 people on a video meeting. What you can't do for free: use Teams to make audio calls to others in your organization or have much storage space for sharing photos and videos. Pro memberships start at $5 monthly.<\/p> Setting up video meets with people within your organization is relatively simple. Just find the person (or persons by adding them to the conversation) and click the video call button.<\/p> But going outside your corporate \"team\" \u2013 if you're using the program at work to connect with people who don't work for your organization \u2013 can sound awfully convoluted with Microsoft-required administrator permissions.<\/p> A better idea. Just go to the Calendar or Meeting section of the app and invite someone. It works rather easily, but with caveats. There will be no meeting held if you use Apple's Safari browser, and if you opt for Firefox instead, you'll get a meeting that can only be held via chat, sans video and audio. Microsoft would prefer you to download their app to make it work instead.<\/p> Facebook would like this private meeting room to be considered a \"Zoom Killer,\" but the reality is, it's still Facebook, where the first choice, after you've selected your meeting room, is to put the video on your timeline for everyone to see and join.<\/p> So that pretty much knocks out educators and enterprise.<\/p>What are you searching for?<\/em><\/h4>\n
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By helping clients understand digital communications and media we work together to effectively use and leverage the power of the Internet for their business objectives. This could be for sales, transactions, lead prospecting, building awareness, and more. We do both search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). Visual design, strategic digital communications and marketing, usability engineering, podcasting, and video are some of the services we offer. Others include eBusiness solutions, transactional processes, and digital media. We also monitor our clients’ sites analytics and make content, navigation, and other visual design recommendations. Our clients include small and medium successful offline businesses for whom we develop and use the online world as a part of their future success. Their industries include health, medical, politics, manufacturing, retail, financial, legal, restaurants, gaming, sports, water filtration, real estate, non-profit, and newly financed start-up ventures. In addition, we form partnerships with particular businesses to sell their products and or services online and via digital media.<\/p>\nWith stay-at-home remote work and learning the new norm during this pandemic, what were people supposed to do?<\/h2>
We took a good hard at four competitors this week, which all offer tiers of free service. Zoom is still far and away the most popular of all of them, top-ranked on Apple and Google's app store download chart, along with Messenger (No. 10), Microsoft Teams (No. 14) and Google Meet (No. 15).<\/h3>
Google Meet<\/strong><\/h4>
Webex Meetings<\/h4>
Amazon Prime, Walmart+, Instacart and Shipt: The perks, costs and how membership programs<\/p>Skype<\/h4>
Microsoft Teams<\/h4>
Messenger Meeting Rooms<\/h4>
What are you searching for?<\/h4>
Need Page One Listings? Let Nelsonecom Help You With Search Engine Optimization And Marketing.<\/a><\/h3>