I swore I would stop at 2 trips with quarantine... Never say never!
Well here I am again for the 3rd time since Covid started, flying to Taiwan for work where the quarantine is still in effect despite most countries in the world lifting all masks mandates. On a positive note, we were gifted 4 days of freedom: the quarantine period went from 14 days to 10 days YAY š
Some of the protocols once you land did change and made it a little easier and faster to get to your hotel: you still need a Taiwanese SIM card, they give you 2 Covid home tests to do while in quarantine, you have to do a saliva test before getting in the designated taxi and now you don't need a PCR test at the end of the quarantine.
I decided to change hotel as well for the quarantine for a change of scenery. And honestly I don't think I could have survived looking at the same wallpaper as the last time! So I found a great boutique hotel in the government approved list of quarantine hotels: Les Suites Ching-Cheng.
I have to say that the staff has been amazing, the food has been wonderful and the rooms are really nicely furnished with some snacks, a Nespresso machine, a mini fridge, a hot water dispenser and even some light exercise equipment if you need (yoga mat, dumbbells...)
The Food
Breakfast, lunch and donner was provided every day and I had a menu with options to choose from only for dinners. Off course you can also order food from Uber Eats or Panda Food. This is definitely the healthiest I have eaten in several months and not having to cook or even think about what I wanted to eat has been amazing. But after several days it is difficult to eat Asian style food for me. Good thing that Uber Eats was also available for 7 Eleven and I was able to purchase milk and cereals, cheese, bread and some yogurts. I can't survive without dairy!!
Getting COVID during quarantine
It's hard to tell if you are getting sick getting off the plane and especially after a long trip like, I don't know, Raleigh to San Francisco (6 hours) then San Francisco to Taipei (14 hours). All you feel is tired, hot or cold and pretty disgusting!
When I landed I had to go through saliva testing only this time and they didn't even give you the results right away so I thought I was good and got on the Taxi line to get to my hotel for a much needed long shower.
It turned out that the next day I started feeling sick: sore throat, headache, tired (more than just the usual jetlag). I still had to take my temperature every day and I was consistent between 34 and 36 degrees Celsius. So I thought I just got a bad cold or the flu from the trip, the change of temperature between normal and freezing AC!
After the 5th day of feeling like I've been hit by a bus and as the light at the end of the quarantine tunnel was starting to shine, I suddenly wondered: what if I have Covid? š¤ Obviously I'm already in quarantine and other than taking Ibuprofen type medication there is nothing else to do. But I still had to take a Covid home test the last day of quarantine and it needed to be negative or... Honestly I didn't want to find out what the alternative was: another 10 days in quarantine? Hell NO
I did take one of the two tests they gave us and off course it turned out positive!! Now I was freaking out only because of the thought of staying cooked up in this room for any additional days. So I started planning some backup plans:
I will use one of my colleagues negative home tests and send the hotel that picture instead of my positive test
I will barely insert the swab in my nostril so the test will be negative (or better said inconclusive!)
I will take the test and if it's positive I will Photoshop it and erase the line
I ended up going with option #2. Honestly I had already spent 10 days in quarantine and according to CDC we're not contagious after that. And by the way the only place I could have caught the virus is on the plane! The alternative to me staying in the room longer would have been losing my mind and breaking the window of my room or even escaping!! For those of you who have never experienced being stuck in a small room for 10 to 14 days without being able to leave would probably think I'm exaggerating. Some people compared it to prison or jail, and my answer was always: at least in jail you can leave your cell, socialize with others and have access to the yard!! (I've never been to jail or prison so please take my comments very lightly!)
Now we're almost into August and I will not be returning to Taiwan until the quarantine is fully abolished. Three rounds have done enough damage on my internal clock, my perception of time and my mental health!!
Commentaires