I stayed in a quarantine hotel for two weeks AMA

[Cissyandflora]

I didn’t know whether to make a thread about this but I’ve been thinking that maybe people would be interested to know something of the experience. I was in Sydney and spent two weeks at the end of last year. If anyone has a question I’ll answer it!

@Doyoumind - ha ha. I said to my husband earlier that 10 days alone in a hotel with someone bringing me food was my idea of heaven 😂

@Tempnamechangex

My husband has just completed 27 days in Angola after a issue with having his passport returned, he has now started 8 weeks on a ship and will face uk quarantine when he returns home. This is his 4th time in quarantine aboard and he will now have less than 2 weeks at home before starting the process all over again. The conditions he has been quarantining in are pretty horrific so at least the uk one should be better. I am seriously worried about the impact on his mental health and can see the impact it having on him.

I’m sorry to hear that. That is a lot. It does impact.

[quote Pinkmarsh]@Doyoumind - ha ha. I said to my husband earlier that 10 days alone in a hotel with someone bringing me food was my idea of heaven 😂[/quote]
Yes and I had 14 days. I’ve never been alone for that long before!

Did they cater for specialist diets like kosher, vegetarian, Coeliac or diabetic?

I don't see how people with coeliac disease would be able to eat things like bread rolls or cereal.

I follow someone on Instagram who is doing it in New Zealand at the moment, (Aesha from Below deck, if anyone else watches) and her exercise is in the car park as the hotel doesn't have outside space. The food looks great though.
Sounds like the op had a pretty rough one.

You say about the awful food - what would have happened if you’d had an allergy or intolerance - or don’t you know?

We stayed at the Marriott. Did you have a view of the Opera House?

Three things...

Is trip absolutely essential, tick

Is paying for this down to you, or your company well done you all

But I reckon there are shenanigans and Baksish, ahem going on also.

I think I'd cope if I could open a window, otherwise would be like cell block H

Hope you are all coping.

My husband's doing this for the second time but in a different country (work related). He's only allowed out of his room twice, for covid tests.
Food is crap, internet patchy and only three English channels on TV (and they're showing the same programs now as they were 3 months ago.

I did the Q in coming back into China in March last year. If I'd known I was going to test negative all the way through, I would have been able to relax into it and I don't think it would have been a big deal, but I was constantly terrified I was going to be taken away after testing positive. Every time I heard someone in the corridor, I flinched.

I started quite strong, with daily exercises in my room and made myself a little schedule, but halfway through my paranoia/anxiety got really severe and I stopped washing/getting dressed/looking in the mirror. We were allowed to order stuff to get left outside our doors and I was buying huge bags of imported Russian chocolate online and just binging on it. It could barely meet the eye of the person who left it outside my door; it was far, far more than one person would need.

I am a no-sugar, low-carbing, intermittent fasting, whole-foods, yoga and pilates-doing person (for better or worse) so my descent into slovenly non-moving junk food-binging person within seven days was quite sobering.

Looking at cases which have cropped up in HK and Taiwan, they appear to have originated in people who did 14 days Q, suggesting that people can remain infectious outside this period.

Countries wanting to avoid community spread of COVID long-term will need to stay very on the ball with test and trace!

In the UK, you aer allowed a walk in hotel yard / grounds.

But depending on hotel, not all have windows that open generally - which I think is criminal! Some people have medical conditions that get worse with no fresh air (migraines etc), let alone that stuffy rooms can affect mental health / make people feel low.

Allowed to smoke outside too, of course.

How were things for booking the flights before you arrived?

(I ask because it has come up in the UK that only a few airports are allowed for arrivals, none north of Birmingham. People are being forced to book new flights at their own expense.)

I imagine I would try to a

Ffs.. try to sleep the whole time away. No point in being awake

@lljkk

Ffs.. try to sleep the whole time away. No point in being awake

For 2 weeks?!?

To be fair, your quarantine is not representative of all quarantine. I knew people who did it in the Howard Springs facility and they had the run of the place outdoors as well, no one was confined to a room and there was lots of organised outdoor activities (socially distanced) including yoga etc each day. It’s not what they would have picked as a hotel room and obviously the place is not a hotel or resort, rooms were very basic but they were happy to trade that off with not being confined and having the run of the place. I have heard they are increasing the numbers there and also opening up another facility out of Darwin (again, not a hotel but another repurposed retired military barracks) to pump more people through but that won’t be until April due to hurricane season at present. Howard Springs is still operational now though.

I assume you travelled from the UK.

How different does being in Australia feel to being in the UK? Obviously I can read about how things are with the pandemic in the U K but it’s very different to being there (I’m in Australia.)

That sounds quite nice!

Cissyandflora Both of them certainly thought it could have been worse

I have a friend and his wife quarantining in Thailand. The cost is lower than here, but he has a luxury suite with a balcony. Not allowed out of the room at all for two weeks. In this suite he has a fridge/ freezer and washing machine.
Food is ordered via an app and they are given 3 choices. He says the food is pretty good. They can order from 7 -11 [ shop, not time ].

They get covid tests weekly and they have to be negative before they are allowed to leave the end of quarantine.

He can get English speaking TV and they have Netflix too. Apart from boredom he says the experience hasn't been too bad.

@Kokeshi123

Looking at cases which have cropped up in HK and Taiwan, they appear to have originated in people who did 14 days Q, suggesting that people can remain infectious outside this period.

Countries wanting to avoid community spread of COVID long-term will need to stay very on the ball with test and trace!

China has also had cases where people have tested positive after the 14 day quarantine period and some areas introduced 14 day home isolation after the quarantine period. They are also very on the bill with tracking and testing contacts.