‘I decided to turn quarantine hotel stay into a positive’
CARER MAKES BEST OF SITUATION, BUT HITS OUT AT PRICE
A LIVE-IN carer forced to quarantine at a Heathrow hotel after flying back from South Africa has said she has “made peace” with the 10-day stint and brought a stash of spa products to make the most of the stay.
Karen Scheffer has been in forced isolation at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow hotel, in Hayes, after flying back from spending Christmas with her 86-year-old mother in South Africa.
After having stayed longer than she planned and changed her tickets twice, the 62-year-old said it was “just bad luck” she ended up travelling back to the UK as the quarantine hotel policy came into force.
The new orders mean anyone arriving in England who has travelled from a “red-list” country must quarantine in a managed hotel for 10 days as soon as they arrive. This started on February 15.
Karen said she could not stay away from work indefinitely and had already had to let two clients down due to her extended time away.
She said: “I decided if I got here I was going to see this as a positive and not a negative.
“I can complain about it and it’s no use, I just thought it’s forcing me to rest, a period not to do anything for anyone except for myself.”
She packed her bags complete with manicure kits, pedicure kits and face masks, and has planned out doing a different activity each day in the plush hotel, including a day teaching herself yoga online.
However, she has also planned an “admin day” for sorting through the 13,000 photos on her phone, sorting her paperwork and taxes and spending time doing online courses for her job.
Through being a live-in carer for the elderly, Karen has been in more challenging situations, such as spending three-and-a-half months in a sixth-floor flat in South Kensington during lockdown with one of her clients.
She said: “This is nothing. This is 10 days and I don’t have to cook or clean.
“I see it as my forced rest. I’m very happy to be here although I would have preferred to pay less – I’m not happy about that.”
“I don’t think it’s fair at all because as a carer I know how important it is to isolate and do the right things, and I would have gone right into isolation or at a guesthouse, which would have cost me a third of what I would have to pay here.
“It’s unfair for us to face that astronomical amount – I don’t know how they get to £1,750. I’m sure the hotel and daily rate is not adding up to that amount.
“My biggest gripe is the cost of it. It’s fortunate I had the money, but I had to work hard for that money which was [going to pay for a] trip to my son in Melbourne. It is what it is.”
Karen says the hotel has done everything to make the stay as easy as possible for the compulsory guests, with spacious rooms and a “huge” bed.
Karen said: “The food is exceptionally good, they worked out a very good menu. It’s so sad I have to eat such nice food in cardboard boxes.”
Because of the coronavirus risk, guests eat from the boxes before putting them in a brown bag outside the door for staff to collect.
Guests are able to choose between a meat and vegetarian option for each meal, such as a roasted ginger and lime salmon with pepper salsa or penne arrabiata with basil oil for dinner.
The other golden rule for guests to follow is not being allowed to leave the room for the entire stay. This includes for exercise, but Karen said the room is big enough to do it indoors.
An exception is made, however, for smokers, who can request with
reception to be accompanied outside for a cigarette.
The worst part of the deal Karen feels is the invasive Covid test with a throat and nose swab, which came back negative for her first test.
“It was awful, my worst experience,” she said.
While she feels the hotel has done a great job, Karen has noticed how tense staff are, due to their guests having travelled from countries deemed high risk.
“At the hotel the staff were petrified to come near us... I find that a bit weird,” she said.
She also told how other guests are finding it more difficult, after hearing someone say “we’re not animals” and complaining about the service to staff.
Karen added: “I understand both parts, I’m scared of them [staff], I don’t know if they are [Covid] negative.”
Ahead of the introduction of the quarantine hotels, union Unite urged the government to ensure hotel staff were not at risk through having to work throughout the initiative.
Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “It is all very well announcing that you are creating quarantine hotels, but the government also has a strict duty of care to ensure that workers in these facilities are safe and the hotels are completely Covid secure. Far too many workers have already died in the hospitality sector and it would be absolutely shameful if stringent rules are not in place ensuring workers’ safety before the doors open to any quarantine hotel.
“As a minimum requirement, to acknowledge the risks involved, the government should ensure that any hotels selected for this work undertake to pay workers in full if they are required to self-isolate or develop Covid-19.” Meanwhile, for surrounding areas of Heathrow such as Hounslow borough, council leader Steve Curran does not believe the £1,750 per head policy is going to help boost the local economy in an area decimated by the airport’s decline during the pandemic. He said: “The people can’t go out and spend in the local shops, other than giving the money to the hotels and that helps with local jobs, that is the only benefit. I don’t think it’s discernible, it’s not enough people, [and] it’s not for long enough.” For Karen, she’s already lined up what she’ll do first once her time in quarantine is up.
She said: “I will be going to the guest home where I was going to isolate in Tonbridge, all my winter clothes are there in storage – and then I will just go for a walk in a woodland somewhere.”
I’m very happy to be here although I would have preferred to pay less – I’m not happy about that
Karen Scheffer