It has been almost three weeks since Darryl Chan tested positive for Covid-19 when he arrived at Hong Kong Airport. Although he shows no symptoms, he is still in isolation in a hospital ward. He does not know when he will be allowed to leave.
Along with mainland China, Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world that has a strict “zero covid policy”. This means that most foreigners are banned from entering the country, and those traveling from abroad must undergo a three-week quarantine regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated or not.
Darryl Chan flew from London to Hong Kong on December 19th for his new job. CNN reported. He was fully vaccinated with a booster and tested negative multiple times before leaving the UK. However, when he arrived in Hong Kong, he took the mandatory Covid test and was found positive.
More than 12 hours after landing, he was taken to a nearby hospital for further tests. Although he was asymptomatic, he was found to be infected with the Omicron variant of the virus.
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In Hong Kong, the minimum isolation period for people who test positive, even if they are asymptomatic, is around a month. They must stay in the hospital for at least ten days and cannot leave the hospital until they test negative twice, no matter how long that takes.
After two negative tests, the patients are brought to isolation facilities for two more weeks with an arrest warrant.
According to this, Darryl Chan has been in an isolation ward since December 19 and is not sure when he will be able to see the world again. He spends 24 hours a day in the room and has no access to fresh air.
“I think the worst part is not knowing when to get out. You almost feel like you are back in school, waking up and going to bed in a controlled manner and not being able to control what you can eat. ”He was quoted in a CNN report.
DAILY ROUTINE IN ISOLATION
In the isolation ward, Darryl Chan’s daily routine must match that of the hospital.
At 8 a.m. he wakes up to a jingle from the public address system and an announcement reminding him to monitor his vital functions.
He gets his meals at fixed times. He spends the rest of the day watching Netflix and using social media.
“I’d say early or mid-afternoon is probably the hardest time of the day,” he told CNN. “In the morning you check your email or your social media. But when lunch starts you say, ‘I don’t really know what I’m going to do’.”
The doctors have not yet been able to say when he will be released. It all depends on when he tests negative, he said.
MENTAL HEALTH EFFECTS
With its zero-Covid policy and strict quarantine measures, Hong Kong has largely succeeded in keeping its Covid case numbers and hospital stays low. However, this comes at the expense of the mental health of those who remain in isolation for long periods of time.
Darryl Chan said he is concerned about his mental health as his isolation period continues to expand.
“I definitely feel pretty trapped and that’s a scary feeling. I’m trying to rationalize it. I think I just go through the processes and know that there are certain things that you can and can’t change … the only one what I can change is how I deal with it and what I do with my time, “he told CNN.
“I’m trying to make something useful, interesting, that I can hopefully look back on one day and remember that time when I sat in a hospital room for X days,” he added.
The psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Wong said: “In general there is an increased sense of isolation, fear and in some severe cases even post-traumatic stress. However, there are tips for maintaining good mental health. This includes planning your day very clearly so that you have rest and working hours. Build as much into the day as possible. “
She also suggested viewing quarantine as an act of altruism rather than punishment.
COVID IN HONG KONG
Recently, Hong Kong identified a number of Omicron cases in a cluster associated with flight crew. This marks the first case of locally transmitted Covid cases in the city in nearly three months.
In addition, hundreds of people, including twenty restaurant workers, who were in close contact with the positive cases, were sent to a government camp for three weeks.
Before the Omicron cluster emerged, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had said the city’s zero-covid policy would be maintained.
“Hong Kong has taken very tough measures to protect itself against the importation of cases in order to maintain local freedom from infection. Given the heavy onslaught from Omicron, we need to be even more vigilant, ”she said on December 28th.
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