IRISH GRAN’S HOTEL VIRUS TERROR
Mum-of-7 Geraldine trapped in Tenerife lockdown
AN Irish gran told yesterday how she’s trapped in a holiday nightmare – after her Tenerife hotel went into coronavirus lockdown.
Mum-of-seven Geraldine Mangan, from Rathfarnham, Dublin, her husband and four friends are in quarantine after an outbreak at the Costa Adeje Palace.
The GAA official said: “We have to wear masks if we leave the room. It looks like we’ll be here for 14 days.”
AN Irish grandmother has told how she and her pals are in lockdown in a Tenerife hotel at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak.
Geraldine Mangan, a mother of seven, arrived with her husband and two other couples on the island on Monday night.
But what was supposed to be a relaxing week in the sun has turned into a worrying nightmare.
An Italian doctor and his wife tested positive for the virus on Sunday at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel forcing the owners to order a quarantine.
Geraldine, the secretary with St Jude’s GAA Club in Templeogue, South Dublin, said: “They really shouldn’t have let us in to the hotel at all.
“The doctor and his wife were taken away on Sunday and really anyone arriving on Monday shouldn’t have been allowed entry or to book in.
“Had we arrived two hours later, the hotel would have been in full lockdown and we would have been turned away.
“Unfortunately, they did and we’re stuck here now.”
But the Mangans and their pals who are all from Rathfarnham, South Dublin, said they remain in good spirits.
All 1,000 hotel guests, some of whom were sunbathing while wearing surgical masks, received a note under their door earlier this week warning them to stay in their rooms. Geraldine told the Irish
Mirror: “We have to wear masks now if we leave the room at any stage. The hotel has given us new masks and thermometers to take our temperature.
“The hotel took our temperature at first but now we do it ourselves. We have to report any change to reception.
“We are being told very little but the hotel seem to be doing their best.
“We were allowed out of our rooms today and to go around some of the grounds. But we cannot leave – there are police at the gates and on the road. We’re spending the time chatting to the other couples we travelled out with, going to their rooms.
“We’re lucky we have a balcony so we can look out – and it is nice and sunny.
“The days are long in the room. The hotel has brought us up breakfast, lunch and dinner so far.
“But the Wifi is good and we can get all the messages and emails from home.
“Our children, well they’re all adults
now, are more worried than us. It’s more like they are the parents and we are the children, they’re looking out for us.
“The hotel is hoping to have the restaurant open soon but they have only a skeleton staff on.
“They are very good and doing their best, but other staff were not allowed back in after the lockdown came into place on Monday night.
“It certainly is not what we had planned, but we’re hoping things will become clearer soon. We came for a week, flying out through Dublin and are due to fly home next Monday.
“But it looks like that won’t happen now. We face being quarantined for 14 days.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the couples but they too are unsure of what will happen in the immediate future.
A spokesman confirmed Irish nationals holidaying in Tenerife have been in contact with them.
Meanwhile a Dr Kevin Kelleher, a senior HSE clinician said: “It looks increasingly likely that the world will experience a significant outbreak of Covid-19 over the next six to 12 months.”
Speaking on RTE’S Six One, he added believes the spread of coronavirus will “potentially be much worse than the winter flu”. The medic said he is satisfied the adequate preparation has been taken by the HSE to tackle a confirmed coronavirus case here. He recommended that if a person does become sick with symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath or fever they should telephone their doctor.
And the HSE urged anyone who have been in affected coronavirus countries during the last 14 days to contact them.
People who visited China, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Singapore, South Korea or Lombardy, Piemonte, Veneto and Emilia-romagna in Italy should call immediately.
Anyone who have been in contact with a person who has coronavirus was also urged to get in touch with them.
And people who have been in a hospital or healthcare centre where people are being treated for coronavirus should also get in touch with the HSE.
We are due to fly out on Monday but it looks like that won’t happen GERALDINE MANGAN TENERIFE YESTERDAY