Finally, we were taken to a big hall w/ numbered & distanced individual tables with chairs. Different flights are assigned different rows. Each table comes with a trash bag and a couple information sheets. 
There seems to be a conscious effort to avoid telling us how long it will take, but I heard staff tell a father 8 hrs after he gently pressed. Now his three kids are quietly studying, with the mom helping the youngest with his multiplication.
One well-prepared mom traveling alone with a toddler brought a small beach tent and set it up next to her table, so that her child could be more comfortable. She’s gone, so I’m hoping the staff prioritized her or gave her a better setup.
We were handed sandwiches (with a vegetarian option) and bottled water. I saw one hygienic slip-up: a passenger asked to switch her sandwich choice and the staff took her box back from her and put it back on the cart.
It’s only been about an hour and a half but a woman is already pacing around her table. I’m saving my sandwich for later as it’ll likely be the highlight of my time here.
There is a atmosphere of patient cooperation. We are all HK residents returning home, who got on our planes knowing (vaguely) what was ahead of us upon arrival, including the mandatory 2-week quarantine. After 2.5 months in Europe (mostly in France), it’s a relief to be back.
At home, my mom awaits my arrival. A few days ago, she informed our building management that I’d be coming. They are on standby and will spray me and my luggage with disinfectant in the lobby. Then they will disinfect the elevator and the lobby behind me.
It’s nice to be home where I am not seen an over-the-top germaphobe. Here ppl work collectively to get local transmission to ZERO. In France I felt like ppl saw the virus as an abstract lottery, believing they just need to follow govt guidelines best they can & hope for the best.
Um, so some nice Twitter stranger informed me that I accidentally tweeted personal info, so here’s my saliva sample sealed into a specimen bag again. I blame jet lag, but it also hadn’t occurred to me there could be personal info on a document with no handwriting on it. But...
I guess sometime in the hour or so between getting my tracking bracelet and receiving my test kit, someone had typed in my personal information, printed it out, and inserted it into my personalized kit bag. Wow.
And for the record! I am using the official government spelling for the “kruuaar” sound you have to make when hocking up spit! That is how they spelled it out in the instructional video! (Or something like that, I could be a few letters off.)
Cleaning staff in full PPE took my used trash bag away. Another staff member came and gave me a new one. Toilets seem to be cleaned quite frequently too. There are 16 columns of 12 chairs each (192 total). People have been trickling in and the room is about 70% full.
I ate my sandwich. It was fresh & made with care, though lacking in flavor. A napkin would have been nice. People are starting to get a bit restless. There’s ~20 kids of all ages. I’m guessing they flew back in time to be out of quarantine for the (planned) re-opening of schools.
Woohoo! Snacks! Turns out I needn’t have rationed my sandwich. I was given a new bottle of water, cream crackers, and chocolate digestives. I asked for an extra packet of digestives and the staff member — wearing a gown, cap, mask and face shield — happily obliged.
Here are the welcome note and “house rules” that were waiting for me on the table when I got here. I wonder if people being visited by friends and family while waiting here was an actual issue at some point.
So, an interesting detail to illustrate the fastidiousness of the whole process: I was given a “compulsory quarantine order” form on the plane. It was hastily photocopied and had the same thing on the front and back.
Upon landing, workers insisted that we had to fill it in again since only the “original” form would do, rather than photocopies. We filled in the fresh, original forms twice, including our quarantine address.
When the health official signed & stamped the forms (keeping one copy & giving me the other), he crossed out my address + stamped it with the address of the testing center (where I am now), since that is where I am actually quarantined “with immediate effect” as per the order.
Upon arriving at my designated waiting table, I had to fill yet another form that officially changed my quarantine location from the testing center to my quarantine address (i.e. my flat). Instructions were on the table. Someone eventually came and collected the form.
Touched by the well-wishers on Twitter ❤️
6 hours in. Three rows of passengers, who were already here when I got here, have cleared. These rows shown here haven’t been used yet — the cleared ones are on the other side.
They have announced they are releasing my flight and will be calling out tag numbers and seat numbers! It’s been almost 7 hours since I arrived here. They are on tag #349. I’m #423. This is like the best game of bingo ever
I am negative for #covid19!!! I am free to go! I have to collect a sample again on May 25 and they’ve given me a folder with a test pack + other info. I’ll unbox all these goodies for y’all later but first I’m outta here!!
I am now home & have inhaled a plate of dumplings smothered in my family chili sauce in literally 4 mins & have never been happier. To my great chagrin, I had not had Chinese food in 3 mos but at least I can count on racism to be there for me every day 🙏🏼
To answer some Qs, only residents are allowed in HK right now. Everyone‘s tested. Those who test negative *still have to quarantine for 14 days* at home/in a hotel. Those who test positive are taken to the hospital. Their travel companions are taken to govt quarantine facilities
At the airport, staff made sure I scanned a QR code and downloaded the app, which was then registered to my phone # and my tracking bracelet. I had to let the app know when I got home from the airport.
If I broke my quarantine, I could be jailed for up to 6 months and fined up to HK$25,000 (US$3,225). The HK government also encourages people to report quarantine breakers. I would be genuinely afraid of the public wrath if I were to step outside wearing my bracelet.
I was not charged for any costs. If I had arrived in the late afternoon or evening, the government would have taken me to the airport hotel to spend the night while I waited my test results. Here is the 30-page bilingual info pack we all got:
For those who are calling my experience the “future of travel”, keep in mind this is Hong Kong trying to find a solution to allow residents to come home without endangering the entire city. I don’t see how this could become scaleable before a vaccine is developed and distributed.
More context: Until Wednesday, all of Hong Kong's new #Covid_19 cases for the past *23 days* had *all* been imported from abroad. Meaning no one had gotten it from someone else in Hong Kong in 23 days. So HK is VERY serious about keeping infections OUT. hongkongfp.com/2020/05/14/hon…
Roughly 1/2 of HK's imported cases of #covid19 have been from the UK. Hence why I was baffled that none of the @British_Airways staff wore masks to/from Heathrow, even as they flew to a place that basically prefers to assume all UK arrivals are infected.
Until yesterday, local transmissions seemed almost in control. Now people are scared by the revelation that there is at least one invisible chain of transmission, since the infected family had not traveled recently. scmp.com/news/hong-kong…
In early March, I flew from Milan, where I was reporting on #covid19, to London. I was handed this flyer before I boarded but no one checked my temp or asked me Qs when I arrived. The same day, HK announced a health declaration form for all arrivals. info.gov.hk/gia/general/20…
Less than two weeks later - March 18 – Hong Kong implemented a compulsory home quarantine for all people arriving from places other than China. info.gov.hk/gia/general/20…
I am starting to sound like a broken record. In mid-March, I tweeted about my shock at the blasé attitude towards the virus I saw in Italy, the UK and France, compared to what I was used to in HK and China:
Back in *January*, I wondered at what point mask-wearing would catch on in wealthy western countries. The answer: the pandemic had to get rly, rly bad before ppl in western countries wore masks, but apparently it still hasn't gotten bad enough for many...
Hong Kong's health officials are to thank for these measures. But you cannot understate the role that personal & community vigilance played in keeping the city's infections rates so low. Only 19.3% of HKers trust the government rn. Read @zeynep's piece: theatlantic.com/technology/arc…
A health official just called me on my cell phone. They made sure I was home. They asked if I felt unwell at all. They gently reminded me that I am not to leave my home in the next 14 days. The call lasted 40 seconds.
My mom just tried to make a doctor's appointment on the phone. They asked if she's traveled recently (no). Then they asked if she's living with someone in quarantine (yes). They're going to get back to her to see if they'll let her come see the doctor.
Update: they won't let my mom see the doctor until I'm out of quarantine. She laughed. She said when she had to get a minor surgery in early Feb, the surgeons made up an excuse about how there were no slots for exactly 3 weeks, but she knew it was bc she had traveled recently.
