Hotel Quarantine in Australia – very unexpected!
I usually write about Europe in this blog, but the Coronavirus lockdowns in Europe back in March this year changed that. Consequently ,there was really no alternative but to return to Australia to wait it out here, after London went into lockdown. Hence, I returned in the first week of enforced Hotel Quarantine.
One of the hot topics in Australia right now is the Hotel Quarantine debacle in Melbourne, which has turned into something of a scandal.
Like many countries, Australia closed its borders to foreign travellers in mid-March. All Australian citizens and residents returning to Australia were required to quarantine in hotels in the capital city of their arrival. This was in a bid to stop the further spread of the Coronavirus, which was already increasing in Australia.
Return to Australia
The Hotel Quarantine Program started on 27th March 2020, and I returned to Australia on 2nd April.
I had originally booked a flight from London to Melbourne to leave on 31st March, but that flight, like thousands of others at the time, got cancelled. After that, I booked a flight to Sydney, after being offered somewhere to stay in NSW by a family member. Listening to the stories coming out in the enquiry into the Melbourne Quarantine, it sounds like it was a bit of luck on my part that I did my 14 days quarantine in Sydney!
This is my quarantine experience.
Arriving In Sydney
I arrived in Sydney on a Qatar Airways flight on 2nd April at about 7.30 am. After filling out forms confirming that we knew what was in store for us, we were allowed to leave the plane. When you see officials boarding a plane before you’re allowed to get off, you know it’s serious!
Walking through the airport was like walking through the set of a dystopian movie set some time in the future, with officials dressed in plastic, masked, handing out bottles of water and farming us through queues with pictures of feet on the floor showing us where to stand. Passengers waited in well cordoned queues to have their temperature checkedt. Those with an elevated reading being farmed off in a different direction to the rest of us. As we passed along the marked trail, plastic clad masked officials asked if we understood what was happening. Next,wWe were directed to have passports stamped, collect luggage and then towards the waiting buses.
This was my first encounter with the various levels of security that were being used in the program. Police showed us onto the buses, army personnel loaded luggage onto the bus. Masks were mandatory, and we’d been issued with a few on our trek through the airport. I’d never worn a mask before, and I’m sure I put it on the wrong way around!! We had to remain physically distanced.
Five Star Luxury – With a Nice View!
Off we went to our designated hotel, mine being the Intercontinental in central Sydney. We were the lucky ones, our Police Sergeant told us… They were sending people with symptoms to the crap hotel! Well, there’s nothing wrong with the Intercontinental! Can’t complain about that! It’s pretty plush place to spend a couple of weeks, even against your will!
The registration process at the hotel was very orderly. A police officer directed us when to go in one at a time. An army person told us out rights and responsibilities and explained what we could expect during the 14 days. They also gave us this in writing.
We entered through the back door of the hotel. Police sat at a registration table and took details, including the address we’d be going to after the 14 days.
High Security Hotel Quarantine
Subsequently, a member of the ADF (Australian Defense Force) took us to our rooms, one at a time. Everything was one at a time. There were no groups of people, except family groups, or people who had travelled together.
As expected, there were security guards at the lifts on each floor, so we could not enter the lifts. An army person took me to my room, let me and took the key. They took the key with them. Once locked in the room, that was it. No leaving the room for 14 days. If you left the room and the door closed behind you, the only way to get back in was if the security guards called a police officer to let you back in again! No fresh air breaks, no cigarette breaks, no leg stretch breaks.
Things to Look Forward to
They told us that when we heard the meal trolly, to wait a while before we collected our meal, which was to be left outside the door. This was to avoid putting the delivery staff at risk.
Meals were not bad and on time. They were not the type of meals I would normally eat, but they were normal meals, and there were plenty of treats to go with them. You wouldn’t have starved and the food was what most people would find normal food.
There were lots of treats left outside the doors as well, mainly flavoured milk and sometimes little chocolate bars, with a couple of Easter eggs at Easter! Flavoured milk is not really my thing, but it was there. And often!! Quite often there’d be a knock at the door, you’d open it and there’d be a bottle of strawberry milk sitting there and an blur of khaki disappearing up the corridor!
There was provision for people to have take away meals delivered too. ADF members brought them up to the rooms, and as usual, left knocked and left them outside the door. I just stuck with the food provided by the program. However, I did see, when collecting my meal, empty KFC bags waiting for collection outside the room next door. Obviously someone needed the occasional pig-out! (Something I now understand, having spent a little too much time in lockdown…)
Harbour Views
I was very lucky. The room was very comfortable and had wonderful views of Sydney Harbour. I woke up to see the sun rise over the harbour, and there was a lovely panorama or Sydney lights at night. There was even a good view of the stricken cruise ship, The Ruby Princess. It had come into the harbour to do what it had to do, and then leave! I developed a routine of watching ferries chugging around the harbour, and became fascinated by a helicopter, which flew from somewhere around Point Piper to the north shore and back every day.
I can’t complain about my stay. The hotel provided fresh linen every few days, which we had to change ourselves. We left the used linen in a plastic bag outside the door for collection. Likewise, dinner bags, boxes, cutlery etc were also collected from outsides our doors. The room–at least my room–was clean and as you would expect a room to be if you were staying as a normal guest.
From what I saw there is no way a virus could have escaped, the security was so tight!
A nurse rang on the room phone every day to check if we had symptoms and to see how we were coping mentally with the lock up.
Mild Symptoms-But no Virus
I had a test, having had some very mild symptoms. The doctor who did the test wore plastic, a mask and face shield. I remember opening the door and being taken aback what looked like two blue Darth Vaders standing there. They even sounded like Darth! I hadn’t got used to hearing people speaking through a mask at that stage. For the test, I could not step even one food outside the room, and the doctor and nurse could not enter. They performed the test at the door, which I had to close immediately after the test. (It came back negative).
Everything was done to the letter!
I did hear families with children in other rooms. I felt for them being trapped in a room with a whole family and not allowed to leave under any circumstances. There was no sense or sound of anyone walking in the corridors. The only sound from the corridor was the meal trolly – always a welcome and much anticipated one!
It wasn’t too difficult for me, as I spend a lot of time on my own anyway. I found plenty to keep myself amused, but I really felt for anyone who wasn’t used to their own company. It would have been a real strain for them. However, there were psychiatric staff available and the nurses reiterated that on their daily phone. I have to admit though, towards the end I was looking forward to getting some fresh air, after two weeks of closed windows.
I experienced nothing like what people experienced in Melbourne according to the quarantine enquiry.
Checking Out of Hotel Quarantine
The check out procedure was equally regimented. The day before I left, a doctor, nurse and police officer arrived at the door. They were PPE’d up and there to ensure I was fit to leave. After they gave me the ‘all clear’, I received my release letter, and instructions on what to do the next day when I left. In the morning,
I left with a red wrist band, which was my exit pass!! I had to show to the security guards at the lift as I left, who phoned the police and very formally, and officially told them “ wrist band dated 15/4 sightedm guest coming down now, guest coming down now”!! He even pressed the button on the lift for me to make sure I actually went to the police exit desk. Again, I had to show my wrist band, sign documents before an ADF member showed me out of the hotel. Actually I think she might have been a navy person–who gave me directions on how to get to the station and to get on my way.
A real military style operation! The whole 2 weeks! No mucking about! No nonsense! Even so, on the limited occasions I had interaction with the police, army or medical personnel, they acted very respectfully. So even though it was so strict, I am glad it wasn’t as lax as it seems to have been in Melbourne. Additionally, I had a beautiful view. But at last, I’d left hotel quarantine.
Things may have changed in the Sydney hotels. I was there in the very first week of the program, and personally I have nothing to complain about. I had a pleasant stay.
