Quarantine during Covid-19 Pandemic

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Published: Wednesday, 03 June 2020 13:31

Written by JT

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JT's Journey from Perth to Kuching: 27 – 28 April & Quarantine from 29 April to 12 May 2020

My view from Hotel Room

I had just graduated in February 2020 and was staying back in Perth hoping to get a job. Then the Covid-19 pandemic started and WA started its lockdown.

My parents were obviously concerned and asked me to check if there were any available flights back to Kuching but for weeks there were none. One Saturday morning, mum and her BSF ladies were praying for me. That evening Mum just happened to scroll her Facebook and saw a newspaper article about MAS having two special flights to Kuala Lumpur on the following week!!!

I immediately booked to fly on the 27th April flight arriving early next morning in KL despite being worried about flying in this pandemic situation. My heart dropped when I found that the next connecting flight to Kuching was on 1st May. It meant that I might have to be quarantined for three or maybe even fourteen days in KL!!

We prayed and amazingly God answered our prayers few days later because there was a new flight to Kuching on 28th April! Now I could transit to Kuching on the same day and avoided being quarantine in KL. Later we found that Uncle Jonathan from Kuching would be on the same flight and that cheered me up knowing “Ok, at least there’s someone I know”.

27th April arrived. It had been a hectic week of packing and clearing up my place. While waiting to board my flight, I prayed for God’s protection as there was no social distancing in the plane but even though the flight was quite full, God provided an empty seat next to me! It comforted me knowing that a lot of people were praying for me and my safety home. Instead of worrying, I submitted everything to God as he would always be with me throughout this journey. A dear pastor sent me a Bible verse from Isaiah 25:4 – “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall”.

Upon arrival in KLIA at 3.40am, we all had to fill a Health Declaration Form and the KKM health officers inquired if I had any symptoms of Covid-19. Our temperature and nose swab were taken which was rather uncomfortable. The whole process took almost 3 hours to clear through to immigration and boy, was it tiring.

Then that was the start of a lifetime experience – there were 14 of us from Perth to Kuching and we were escorted by 10 police officers to our departure gate. We even had escort service to the toilets. Yup! No privacy at all but we all found it amusing and joked that we better enjoyed the special ‘VVIPs’ escort. There were passer-by taking videos or photos of us and I thought maybe we might become social media famous.

Furthermore, no shops were opened so we were all deprived of water and food until our connecting flight to Kuching which was supposed to take off at 12pm. We were boarded with full escort but unfortunately our flight was delayed for two hours just to wait for four other passengers – bad service MAS! We were all absolutely drained already.

Once again, I thanked God that I had an empty seat next to me. By the time we arrived in Kuching it was around 4pm and there were more declaration forms to fill to prove that we are Sarawakians. All of us from Perth had to queue at a designated blue lane where we had a meticulous interrogation. The officer who interviewed me classified us as “foreign viruses”. After that we were given a blue tag to wear and required to log in twice a day at 8am and 8pm. I felt like a criminal being tracked. We were also given a checklist to record our symptoms daily. However, I was more anxious to know which hotels we were designated to. Was hoping for either Pullman or Hilton but unfortunately they were full. This was the first time my parents weren’t allowed to pick me up from the airport but instead we were ushered into groups of 15 into 6 coaches escorted by police cars & sirens to our quarantine hotel Harbour View.

First thought that came to my mind was “Is the hotel clean or not?” Nonetheless, I shouldn’t complain which hotel was provided and Uncle Jonathan that happened to be on the same flight joked, “Don’t worry, Harbour View hotel is alright, at least still got view right?” That got us laughing. We even had two police officers in our coach to guard us and when we got down, we all had our hoodies on. The police officers asked us, “Where are you all from? Is Kuching that cold?” No, Kuching wasn’t cold but it was our own protection if we were required to be fumigated.

We were the last group to check in to our hotel rooms and by then it was already 8pm. I was extremely exhausted after almost a 24-hours journey from Perth to Kuching but I thanked God for bringing me safely home.

My quarantine was 14 days in my tiny hotel room. I was not even allowed to come out of my room except to take in my meals or empty my rubbish bin. My thoughts were “How can I possibly survive in a room for 14 days where I can’t see anyone at all?”
Nevertheless, I was grateful that I had a room with the Sarawak river view and Uncle Jonathan was my neighbour. The hotel’s wifi was like a snail unless I stood near the toilet and only in the mornings. There wasn’t any hot water to shower but yes, I survived 14 days with cold water.

On the first day, our breakfast was served at 5.30am!! Understand all our meals were prepared by KKM (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) and they were basically fishy oily sardine meals most of the time with limited vegetables provided.

I was craving for kolomee and laksa but we were told that only dry food could be sent in. However, I was so delighted when mom managed to send me a hot bowl of Sarawak Laksa. Aunties made me cinnamon rolls, chicken pies, pork paus, curry puffs and lo ma kai and an uncle sent roasted pork belly with salad! The KKM staffs asked us to fill up a feedback form on the 2nd day of our quarantine and informed that snacks would be provided but till the 14th day, none arrived. Our temperatures were also monitored daily and the doctors would check that we were alright. Nonetheless, time past by so slowly and quarantine life was definitely challenging. I was getting restless so I started counting the number of red cars, white cars, black cars, the number of people walking and the number of sampans crossing the river. When my parents delivered meals to me, they would park by the riverfront and I would wave to them from my room. At night when I glanced out of the window, I realised Kuching looked like a lifeless city as there wasn’t any cars on the roads at all. The only excitement that I had daily was opening my room door to see what meals were being served. It was such a joy just to see Uncle’s head when we popped out to get our food.

I thanked God for my parents, uncles, aunties, cousins and friends who checked on me regularly ensuring that I was alright. There was a worrying day when four ambulances arrived to take four people away. Yes, it was lonely at times but I remembered that God is constantly with me. Besides, I found peace doing my BSF weekly lesson and my daily devotions. I was prompted of this bible verse from Deuteronomy 31: ‘The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged’.

Our second swabbing was done on the 10th day and I was so delighted to be able to finally step out of my room. The moment of excitement ended after 20 minutes. I was praying to God that my second swabbing test would return negative so that I could go home.

Moreover, I was counting down to the number of days to go home to see my parents, enjoyed my favourite food, my bedroom and of course the freedom of roaming around. A couple of days before I was released, I was asked to fill up my release order forms and to declare that I would adhere to rules even after being released.

Finally on 12th of May, I was released! So extremely happy to be reunited with my family. It had been an adventure. Regardless of my 14 days quarantine, I truly thanked God and my parents who had been journeying each day with me. As in Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths’. Indeed He has direct my paths, all glory to God.