Several veterans were notified that their Honor Flight visits to Washington, D.C., had been postponed because of the spread of coronavirus.
The Honor Flight Network has for years provided travel arrangements for veterans to visit the nation’s capital and see the war memorials built in their honor. As a precautionary measure to keep veterans safe, the network announced Wednesday that all trips scheduled from now until April 30 will be postponed to avoid contracting COVID-19.
The organization noted that most of the veterans traveling on the Honor Flights were over the age of 60. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently deemed people over the age of 60 as having a “high risk” of contracting coronavirus and recommended that older Americans avoid nonessential travel.
“Unfortunately, the vast majority of the veterans we serve fall into the CDC’s high-risk category,” a representative for the program said. “Many of the veterans also live in community settings, such as retirement homes or assisted living facilities, where the risk of spreading illness is extremely high.”
More than 1,000 people in the United States have been infected with coronavirus and 30 people have died from it. People over age 80 have a 14.3% fatality rate after contracting the illness.
