Quarantine so much tougher for me in China
BRITAIN’S quarantine hotels are nothing like those in China.
I work in the oil and gas industry and travel all over the world while my wife Michelle and family stay in Britain.
My latest project is at the port of Qingdao in Shangdong Province. Before arriving in October, I had to have a Covid test within 72 hours of travel and a health declaration from the embassy. On arrival, I was greeted by officials in full overalls, goggles and masks.
I had to download a unique QR code to track my movements. Blood was taken and I was given a Covid test before being driven 100 miles to a quarantine hotel where I stayed for two weeks.
Twice a day I had to register my temperature and the corridor was sprayed with disinfectant each time staff in hazmat gear dropped off food in plastic bags.
The inedible meals looked as if they had been scooped from a swamp. I had been advised to bring supplies, so lived on the breakfast boiled egg, porridge, tinned food and biscuits.
By the time I left after a final negative Covid test, I’d lost a stone. I was lucky — quarantine has been extended to a month.
Before I arrived, six Covid cases were reported in Qingdao and the government tested nine million people in five days.
Acting swiftly to isolate and control the spread of infection means China is almost back to normal. The QR information on mobile phones is needed to access public buildings. It’s a model that seems to work. ANDY WILKINSON,
Qingdao, China.