- Faced with the coronavirus health crisis, César and two expatriate French friends urgently returned to Hong Kong.
- A few hours later, his two friends tested positive for the virus while Caesar was placed in quarantine at the other end of the city.
- A story of ultra-strict confinement at the time of the second wave of infection.
César has lived in Hong Kong for almost fourteen years. At the beginning of March, he returned to see his family in the north of France and, with two expatriate friends, he spent a few days skiing in Méribel, before precipitating his return when he saw the health crisis taking shape. The day after their arrival, his two friends tested positive for coronavirus and were hospitalized in the process, while Caesar was placed in quarantine for almost two weeks, far from his home. 20 Minutes collected his testimony.
“My two friends went to the hospital the same day, the day after we returned to Honk Kong. When the first one started to feel bad, we thought he was having a bad life, but it got worse and it looked like the symptoms of coronavirus. When I learned that the second, who is my partner, was also positive, I started to be afraid. I spent five days with them 24 hours a day, except that I had no symptoms. I went to the same hospital as my partner. The day before, he said to me: "I invite you to take a bag, because you left to stay". I packed my bag, I didn't know when I was going to come back. I took books, my laptop, three briefs, socks…
In the emergency room, I explain that I have been in contact with people who have been declared positive. There, the guys moved away. They placed me in an isolated room where they gave me basic tests: blood pressure, lung scan… Then, they escorted me to the department which deals with cases of coronavirus. Someone is scanning the passage to prevent people from passing in front of us. It looks like the movie Alert! [by Wolfgang Petersen]. It feels like an outcast. There are police who clear the way, who install barriers on the side. It is hard to say that it is a hospital.
"I am claustrophobic and imagine staying three or four days in this room, I was going to freak out"
I arrive at the floor in question. The staff is in cosmonaut outfit, I am shown a room isolated by an airlock. At that time, my only hope is to be negative. I am claustrophobic and imagine staying three or four days in this room, I was going to freak out. The results fall and, luckily, I am negative. However, they tell me that, as a precaution, they will quarantine me from the next day. I still spent the night in the hospital, the time to find a place. There are three or four quarantine centers in Hong Kong.
I arrived on March 15 and I was not allowed to go out before March 27 according to the quarantine order issued by the hospital. I arrived in an 8 m² studio, it was twice the size of the hospital room. I felt a lot better, but I still had a lot of depression. It was at the start of the second wave of coronavirus in Hong Kong. I could hear the buses going back and forth every half hour with news from people potentially affected by the virus. The noise of the engines echoed between the laps. You have to imagine 50-story towers, it's a rabbit cage. The center is huge and it is a real fortress.
For twelve days, we remain confined, without leaving the room. We are not allowed to go down the hall. They bring food three times a day in cosmonaut attire. They ring the bell and they leave immediately. It's as disgusting as in the hospital, but we can hardly yell because we are housed and fed. With hindsight, I can consider myself happy. The Hong Kong government is certainly radical, but at least it is effective. They totally took care of us.
I consoled myself by saying to myself "at least, I'm not in the hospital". It still makes a big difference with my acolytes who were positive and who were undergoing a sturdy experimental treatment; a kind of derivative of triple therapy. I was not going to complain.
We have to take our temperature every morning, we have a thermometer in the room. They call to verify that we haven't gone above 37 ° C. And to keep in touch with the outside world, we have two WhatsApp numbers in case we miss something, like water. It is not drinkable in Hong Kong. Of course, you cannot drink alcohol or smoke.
I had something to read, and I never had as many people on the phone as in my 40s. I spent a lot of time in video with the family, the friends. We find ourselves spending time with loved ones on the phone. Something we don't do all the time. And the work helped too. We try to settle into working hours, we have meetings with the team, with clients. With my two hospitalized friends and their respective companions, we created a WhatsApp group to do yoga and meditation. And luckily, my girlfriend came to bring me a small package with a little food, photos, a notebook. I stuck pictures on the wall, like an inmate.
“I was no longer used to seeing a lot of people. I was a little stressed ”
It was fine two or three days. When we see a piece of radius falling on 20 cm from the room, we could bend over backwards, head upside down to get some sun. I could open the windows a little but not fully. For security, it was blocked. Some rays could still enter. At the hospital, for example, you can't open the windows ...
At the end of the quarantine, the test must be repeated. We begin to doubt, we hope it will be fine. But we count the hours. Like Robinson Crusoe, I crossed the days in my little notebook. I arrived on a Monday and left on Friday evening. My quarantine hour ended at 11.59pm and I couldn't negotiate anything. It was a loud midnight.
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Today, obviously it's getting better, I went home a few days ago. I was no longer used to seeing many people. I was a little stressed. I was free but I felt oppressed. When I got to my neighborhood, I ordered a nice cold beer before going home. And there I breathed. "
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- Coronavirus
- Covid 19
- Hong Kong
- Containment
- Quarantine
- Culture