Manchester Evening News

If you’re hating lockdown, spare a thought for this guy...

Engineer trapped in South Korea since early April after failing Covid-19 test

- By HELENA VESTY and THOMAS MOLLOY

A DAD-OF-THREE has been stuck in quarantine in South Korea for more than a month after testing positive for coronaviru­s.

Mark Govindasam­y, a 46-year-old electrical engineer from Bolton, was only supposed to be going to the country for a few days of work, but has instead been confined to treatment centres with strict lockdown rules that mean he can never leave his room.

The Kearsley man, now 35 days into quarantine, is giving a glimpse into his life ‘between four walls’ featuring a grow-your-own lettuce kit, a Jesus jigsaw and lots of seaweed.

Mr Govindasam­y first flew to South Korea on April 5, for his work in the off-shore wind industry - a job that should have taken less than a week to complete in a laboratory just outside of Seoul.

On arrival, he was tested for Covid-19 and swept off to a holding facility for people coming into the country.

Mr Govindasam­y told the M.E.N.: “It was classed as essential work that needed to be done. Everybody knew that on arrival to South Korea there would be a compulsory two-week quarantine period. I was supposed to have flown out, done the quarantine, and been back home by April 25.”

Instead he is now at what he believes is a financial training institute.

Life in quarantine is strange, says Mr Govindasam­y, stuck in his room with little communicat­ion: “You can’t go out, no fresh air, can’t go into the corridor, nothing. I don’t speak to anyone face-to-face.

“All my meals are arranged by tannoy announceme­nts - sometimes they forget to do the English version but I have figured out what is going on now. There is another announceme­nt that tells you to take your temperatur­e and write any symptoms on a form that is stuck on your door. You have to do that twice a day.

“We’ve got police and army patrolling the place. That’s now my life.”

The food in South Korea has been hit-and-miss, he says: “The rice is alright and there’s times when you get an egg. Often I don’t know what it is but I’m used to travelling and eating weird stuff.”

Mr Govindasam­y says he is just about keeping sane, sticking to a routine and learning Korean words to stay positive.

But despite everything, he is keeping happy: “It’s very strict but I feel safe, I’m being fed and watered.

“I don’t fret if I haven’t got answers because I could be stuck here and be ill. It could be a hell of a lot worse.”

 ??  ?? Mark Govindasam­y has News been stuck in South Korea since
April 5. Below, Mark’s grow-yourown lettuces he has named after The Three Stooges and one of the meals left outside his door
Mark Govindasam­y has News been stuck in South Korea since April 5. Below, Mark’s grow-yourown lettuces he has named after The Three Stooges and one of the meals left outside his door
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