COVID-19 quarantine: one man's experience

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COVID-19 quarantine: one man's experience 

 

File photo

 

Mr David Armstrong, a long-term Australian resident in Thailand, travelled to Sydney on the Thai Airways flight on 25 April. He has kindly shared with us his quarantine experience in Sydney.

 

I was feeling anxious as I walked into my quarantine hotel room and the serviceman closed the door behind me. This space was to be my cell for the next two weeks. I could not leave; no one was allowed to enter.

 

As I looked around, I was happily surprised. I had a view, looking across Sydney Harbour towards Blues Point tower, once regarded as an eyesore but now a familiar feature of the northern skyline.

 

When I glanced to the right, I could see the bridge and the overseas passenger terminal. The dock was empty: there were no cruise ships.

 

Lunch soon arrived, according to a ritual to be followed three times a day for the quarantine period.

 

On the floor outside the door was a sheet of clean, thick tissue paper with frilled edges. A staff member, or perhaps a service person, placed the meal on the paper, knocked on the door and kept going. Unless you were quick, when you opened the door all you saw was the meal, in a cardboard box, a wooden bowl or a paper bag, perhaps with a bottle of water, a can of Pepsi or lemonade, a small pack of fruit juice, a slice of cake or piece of pastry wrapped as thoroughly as a mummy, or a piece of fruit.

 

The first meal was a Greek salad with grilled salmon. Delicious and healthy. 

And free.

 

In the bathroom, the soaps and lotions were Thann brand, a feel-at-home touch for someone who has lived in Thailand for 15 years. I don’t recall that we had Thann products in the home but we saw them often enough in the department stores.

 

I could live like this, I thought as my initial impression. And so it remained. I am 72 years of age and I’m accustomed to my own company. I had tasks to keep me busy, including navigating the labyrinth of various health and social services as I re-established an Australian life. I had books to read and Netflix or ABC iview to watch.

 

I could indeed live like this – except for a huge gap in my life: my wife, my partner of 14 years, beautiful, smart, creative, caring Nichapa, is still in Thailand.

 

***

I ARRIVED in Sydney on the morning of April 26, on the special Thai International flight arranged by the Thai Embassy in Canberra and the Australian Embassy in Bangkok – the first of at least three flights made available (through a phenomenal feat of organisation and persistence by Ambassador Allan McKinnon and his Consular team) to Australians who want to get back home.

 

Before reaching Immigration and Customs all passengers lined up for a temperature check and a chat about COVID-19 with a healthcare officer. Spaces in the long line were marked to guide physical distancing. I noticed people could not keep up the distancing if they were walking and texting at the same time. I had to stop myself from bumping up against the man in front of me.

 

Not present among the officials greeting the arrivals were people from Centrelink. Had they been there, they would have been helpful, even if they merely handed out lists of phone numbers and URLs.

 

We were rushed through Customs to join another queue, where an official entered details from our passports into a laptop and directed us, with a big, bright smile, to a line of buses that would take us to the hotel.

 

Here we had our longest wait, as we filled out forms for the hotel and for the NSW Police.

 

And we talked with a hotel rep about the rules covering ordering alcohol for our rooms. Only beer and wine, he said. No spirits. And no more than a six-pack of beer. One man asked if he could order a slab. You could order it, the rep said, but it would be delivered a six-pack at a time.

 

I imagine one of the reasons for restricting alcohol is to guard against people getting drunk and trying to escape the quarantine. Or getting drunk and damaging the rooms. Or getting very drunk and depressed and damaging themselves. 

 

Once inside the hotel lobby, we checked in. We were given the small cardboard hotel “sleeve” with the room number written on it – but no keycard. If you left your room, you could not get back in. Trying to sneak out to meet a special friend was not a smart idea (and that’s without considering the reaction of the police).

 

After check-in came a chat with one of about six police officers sitting at two long tables, entering personal details into their computers. Then a serviceman escorted us to our rooms.

 

And the door closed.

 

Hotel life is a routine. Breakfast between 7am and 9am; lunch between 12noon and 2pm; dinner between 6pm and 8pm. 

 

(Breakfast was sometimes a little odd: a packet of cereal but no bowl and perhaps no spoon either. I used a paper cup as a bowl and rinsed and saved spoons from other meals).

 

Unless you order something from room service, or your family sends a care pack, there are no other interruptions.

 

While meals are free, guests pay for alcohol. Luckily for me, my daughter Ursula sent me several cans of excellent craft beer in a care pack. Lucky, because I had forgotten how expensive Australian beer is. 

 

What the hotel called ordinary Australian white wine cost, after a generous discount, about $25 a bottle. Over the first 10 or so days, I ordered three bottles. But one night, I tried to order the same ordinary Australian white and room service told me the only white wine available was a sauvignon blanc costing $85 a bottle. The craft beers in the fridge suddenly became even more attractive. 

 

Guests clean their own rooms. Rubbish is placed outside the door in black garbage bags, as the bags fill up. Clean linen is supplied after a week so you can refresh your bed. 

 

Laundry can be sent to an outside company and this is much cheaper than using the hotel laundry. The hotel, however, took its cut. The laundry receipt said the cost was $24.50 per bag. The hotel charge was $35. 

 

I found it useful to adopt my own routine. Rise at about 6.30am. Make the bed. Shower, shave and dress. Have a cup of coffee while waiting for the breakfast knock.

 

Get up and walk around the room about every hour, with 10-minute walks after meals (leading to the recommended 30 minutes of exercise every day). Watch Netflix or iview after dinner. Go to bed at 10.30pm.

 

But sleep is often elusive. One night, it took me two hours to fall asleep. The next evening, I found my blood pressure was 190/90, much higher than usual good levels. I put it down to anxiety about going to bed. That night, I took a sleeping pill.

 

A nurse calls every day to make sure we’re well and have no COVID-19 symptoms. As it happens, I went into quarantine with a slight cough and sore throat, caused by air pollution from sugar-cane burning in my area in Thailand. After several days, I started to think, or imagine, they were getting worse. I discussed it with the nurse and she put me down for a test.

 

The nurse who came to do the test asked me to place a chair by the door, as she could not enter the room and I could not step outside. She then got me to put the chair side-on to the wall: she could swab my throat and nostrils without my breathing in her direction. The swab was quick and easy. The result came back in less than 24 hours. Negative. This was no surprise but it was still reassuring.

 

***

MY ORIGINAL plan had been to stay in Thailand throughout the virus crisis. Our home area is semi-rural and safe: it still has not recorded any COVID-19 cases.

But I have a continuing problem with my leg and treatment is very expensive in Thailand as it is not covered by my health insurance.

 

And Ursula, one of my daughters in Australia, had offered to put us both up.

After much to-ing and fro-ing, Nichapa and I decided it made sense for me to return to Sydney and stay with Ursula and my grandchildren. The chance to return came with the April 25 special flight to Sydney.

 

Nichapa would stay in Thailand. It was not possible for her to upend her life on a few days’ notice. And she can help her parents, who live locally. We will get together again but when remains unknown. 

When COVID permits.

 

I recently posted on Facebook a photo of Nichapa and me with our two French Bulldogs, Scarlett and Jasmin. It was taken on the morning that I left for Bangkok. I didn’t explain the significance of the picture as I wanted to get settled before telling people I was back in Sydney. Many friends “liked” the picture; they did not know I posted it mainly for me. 

 

It was our last photo, taken just before I left for the airport.

 

As I write, I will shortly be allowed to leave. I have letters from the Health Department and the police saying I have completed my time in quarantine and have no COVID symptoms. I have found it an easy experience (missing Nichapa aside) but now I look at my room’s closed door and think of it differently. I imagine it as open – and in my mind’s eye I see a white-haired old guy walking out towards a new life, after 17 years overseas, with his family in Australia.

 

As I write, I will shortly be allowed to leave. I have letters from the Health department and the police saying I have completed my time in quarantine and have no COVID symptoms. I have found it an easy experience (missing Nichapa aside) but now I look at my room’s closed door and think of it differently. I imagine it as open – and in my mind’s eye I see a white-haired old guy walking out towards a new life, after 17 years overseas, with his family in Australia.

 

-- DAVID ARMSTRONG 2020 05-26

 

 

 

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[from the home of CC]

and that's part of the reason of Australia's success compared to the UK..

[madmen]

Not a bad experience at all 

[madmen]

Damn that bottle of oz  wine a day and 6pack of real beer is almost worth it!

Edited May 26, 2020 by madmen

[Sujo]

Being stuck in the room would be a bad experience. But at least they are doing their best to make it bearable. Good job.

[Olmate]

6 minutes ago, madmen said:

Damn that bottle of oz  wine a day and 6pack of real beer is almost worth it!

1000 AUD bkk to bris and Melb June 5 if your into it!

[Paiman]

Mr. David Armstrong, thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Not sure I could handle it the way you did. I admire your patience.

[OneeyedJohn]

That is a masterclass in tolerant, patient behaviour.

 

Well done Mr Armstrong.

[smedly]

50 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

and that's part of the reason of Australia's success compared to the UK..

population size and density has nothing to do with it

[new2here]

Overall it sounds very civilized... as much as can be given the realities and perceived risks... I like the fact that detainees can receive some type of outside “care package” type material... I wouldn’t have thought that would be allowed... 

 

I totally understand his logic on leaving.. I think given how fast relatively speaking the issue came up and the amount of unknowns there were/are plus all the various logistical, financial and associated risks and variables, I can easily see why he chose to return.

 

simply speaking you have to make the best call you can “right then and there” and with the little/incomplete information you have... good on him for making it and appearing to have come out “well”... 

[smedly]

34 minutes ago, Paiman said:

Mr. David Armstrong, thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Not sure I could handle it the way you did. I admire your patience.

looking forward to his report in the reverse

[madmen]

51 minutes ago, Olmate said:

1000 AUD bkk to bris and Melb June 5 if your into it!

Got the email and its enticing and the Brisbane leg is perfect as going to the gold coast., I need to go for a number of reasons BUT how do I get back? They are talking no citizen can leave until next year and my home is in Bangkok. 2021 is a long way off

Edited May 26, 2020 by madmen

[fred110]

Who cares? I want to know about the thai quarantine. 

[madmen]

2 minutes ago, fred110 said:

Who cares? I want to know about the thai quarantine. 

What's the point if you can't get out of oz?

[from the home of CC]

26 minutes ago, smedly said:

population size and density has nothing to do with it

surely it does but so does common sense obviously..

[fred110]

2 hours ago, madmen said:

What's the point if you can't get out of oz?

I'm not in Oz. I want to be able to leave Thailand and reenter.