Quarantine hotels are a bad idea – and I should know

I WAS glad to hear the Government is not considering introducing quarantine hotels, similar to the ones in New Zealand and Australia.

I think they are a really bad idea. For starters, I suspect it’s already way too late to stop new variants sneaking in.

One thing we have learned from the past ten months is that this virus moves quickly, and often seems to be many steps ahead of us (until the new vaccines put paid to that). And while closing borders and using quarantine hotels has worked brilliantly in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, the virus is too entrenched here to do this.

There’s also a significant downside, in terms of mental health, from asking people to stay cooped up in a small room without daylight for an extended period.

Having recently spent two weeks in a quarantine hotel in Australia, with my wife, Clare, I can assure you that it’s extremely challenging. You are not given a choice about which hotel or which room, and you pay between €1,700 and €2,700 for the dubious pleasure of being locked up for 24 hours a day (our room had a view of a brick wall).

I suffer from mild claustrophobia and there were times when I wasn’t sure I could bear it.

The worst thing is you’re not allowed out of your room, not even for a brief walk. Rugby star Rob Kearney endured it with his fiancée Jess Redden but it is clearly tough for the 72 tennis stars now in one such hotel in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open.

A friend who stayed in one of these hotels said she once heard someone screaming, for what seemed like hours, in the next room. When she rang reception she was told not to worry — ‘they’re probably just having a panic attack’.

If you do ever find yourself in a situation like this, what you need is a really calm and reassuring companion like Clare.