The long and winding road back home

*By Jing Wu

[The writer is a Macau citizen and a Macau News Agency contributor who had been studying in Italy and returned to her hometown in April of this year]

I decided to return to Macau but the way is long and tough. Although all the physical examinations show I’m currently in a normal healthy condition, health authorities compulsorily arranged for me to be isolated in the Alto de Coloane health centre under 24-hour camera surveillance and medical observation for 21 days.

On 12 April, 2021, I took a flight from Rome to Macau, with a stopover in Paris and Taiwan. My nucleic acid test or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) taken 72 hours before boarding showed a negative result, one of the entry requirements requested by Macau authorities.

A total of 12 Macau citizens from overseas took the same flight from Paris via Taiwan to Macau, the flight arrived around mid-day April 14 at Macau International Airport. 

The health authorities have all the rights to make decisions to prevent and control infectious diseases and due to the special Covid-19 situation, entering Macau’s territory requires a series of complicated procedures.

After all, according to the statement of the health authorities, this is “in order to protect the health of the individuals concerned, to ensure them with timely and appropriate treatment, as well as considering the safeguard of public health in the territory, in the exercise of the functions and powers as conferred on me under article 2 of Law No.2/2004 of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

Upon arrival at the Macau international airport, people who flew directly from Taiwan have the privilege to pass through all the processes, in addition, the seats on the airplane are also arranged according to the original departure. 

As the “overseas group” we waited for more than 40 min then took a bus to the main building to check-in.

We completed the passport quick check-in procedure, but then again, a long wait and slow checking process due to the COVID-19 situation:

At the first checkpoint, authorities had to review the PCR report and health code, with a second checkpoint asking to fill in personal information, travel history, history of COVID infection, vaccination and signing quarantine agreement, etc.

I decided to report that I had been tested positive for Covid-19 in October 2020, Italy. I knew if I hid it, I probably would be committing a crime of concealment since health authorities would end up knowing the truth after blood tests.

All the overseas arrivals must undergo 21 days of medical observation quarantine and 7 days self-management, as the entry requirements and measures of Macau. I did not know that I will be designated to be isolated in a hospital at that time.

After staying at the Airport for three hours to process all the documents, the “overseas” residents were sent by a customs bus to Conde S. Januario Hospital directly to make further COVID tests, such as PCR, IgM and IgG.

On the contrary, people who departed from Taiwan had no need to be tested in the hospital, they were sent directly to hotels. 

Around 3:30 pm, I had done all the tests, yet everyone was required to wait for around five hours to get the result. The medical staff had arranged a waiting room without windows for me to separate from the others.

Until around 7:00 pm, I was informed by a nurse that my medical observation will be carried out in a designated room by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre in the Alto de Coloane, based on the reason that I had a record of being diagnosed with COVID-19 in October 2020, Italy. 

The COVID infection had happened to me more than a half year ago with very mild symptoms and only needed to be quarantined at home without any medical assistance, as the treatment recommended by the local medicals. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most people (about 80 per cent) recover from the disease without needing hospital treatment. About 20 per cent of those who get COVID-19 become seriously ill and require oxygen, with 5 per cent becoming critically ill and needing intensive care.

At the end of October 2020, I was completely healed.

The latest PCR, IgM and IgG COVID tests that I have examined at the Conde de São Januário Hospital were all negative, which mean I was not infected by COVID.

I am not contagious, I have no antibodies and I have no chance to turn to COVID positive by myself.

When IgM is detected this means someone who has been recently infected or may have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection.

IgG antibodies are more likely to show up later in infection. The IgG response is the later response and IgG is to see if someone has long-lasting immunity or mounted a long-lasting immune response.

Regardless, the doctor informed me that “your test results are fine, but because you had COVID in Italy the CDC arranged you to be quarantined in the hospital” as they feared that I might have the possibility of turning into a positive COVID case. 

Since I was getting emotional the doctor said, “It is law, sorry we cannot help you. Please do not make it difficult for the nurse and me, we are doing our jobs.” 

Later on, he asked about the details of my COVID-19 infection in Italy, my occupation, what did I mainly do in the day, what kind of house I used to stay in, and the details of travel history, flight numbers and flight seats.

Afterwards, I followed the medical staff instruction to make further physical examinations, such as blood pressure, blood tests, lung diagnostic test, abdomen diagnostic test, lungs X-rays and MRI.

View from the room

The MRI room is in the other building of the hospital and the hospital cleared the roads all the way for me to get there. 

While walking to the room with the medical staff head, I saw there was a security guard taking pictures of me in distance, I turned my face away and tried not to let him see my face. Everybody was looking at me behind the blockade and I felt like a criminal.

It was around half past 10:00 pm when all the medical exams were finished. Due to the jet lag, multiple transits, and physical exams, I did not manage to take any rest. I was extremely exhausted. 

At about 1:00 am the next day, the report of the examinations was finally finalized but no one informed me about its results. I was transferred to the Alto de Coloane centre in an ambulance and dressed up with a full covered medical protection suit.

The room has a medical bed, a 24-hour camera on the ceiling, a transparent door, a hole for the food delivery, a locked window, and a giant yellow wall outside the window.

When you look down the window you see an empty parking lot and when you look up the sky is barely visible and mostly covered by the giant wall and the trees behind. The white light in the room is disorientating.

“Food delivery from outside is not allowed, because we provide meals. Windows and doors are locked, take temperature by yourself three times a day then report to the nurse by phone immediately. It is not allowed to go out to the room.” The nurse explained the rules. 

Quarantine food

“We have a camera here for security reasons, but don’t worry, we don’t check it normally. We only check when there’s something that happened or something urgent. If you need to change your clothes or to do your private things, you can go to the bathroom, the bathroom has no camera,” she added.

When the nurses went out, I thought I could finally get some rest after being awake for more than 24 hours and going through all the previous tough activities but I suffered a sleepless night. I was traumatized, I was frightened by the suffocating environment and those unreasonable regulations.

The feeling was like breaking up with everything you love and imposing something you hate. I have never been through heartbreak like this before. I had no energy or desire to do anything.

I had experienced several quarantines and lockdowns in Italy. I could say that I managed it quite well. I always found the joy to please myself, such as just simply by looking at the sky, watching plants, taking the sunshine, listening to the birds chirping, the sound of waves and cooking some food that I like. 

Since the environment was positive, I was in good spirits too, I was able to exercise, work, read, watch movies or party by myself. I was alone, but not lonely at all. 

The next night, I requested to change a room with a window that can see far. The new room has a view of mountains, trees, roads, cars, buildings. I found a connection with the world again. 

The next morning at 7:00 am, the nurse called me to ask my temperature and further asked about my sleep. I simply answered, “better than last night.”

She said, “I saw you were sleeping well too.”

This scared me. It meant that the nurse station did check the camera frequently. Later on, I moved the bed to a corner where the camera cannot see, a nurse called me back with required me to move the bed where is visible for the camera.

I did not feel security and privacy at all, therefore, I built a sort of tent in the room and stayed inside the windowsill all the time so that I could feel safe by looking out the window and hiding from the camera. 

After being isolated in the room for a week, I found my peace by covering the camera and the transparent doors. I managed to do some exercise, looking at the landscape, working, reading on the windowsill and trying to be free spiritually. 

During medical observation in the hospital, it is required to make PCR tests four times which is once more than medical observation in the hotel. Measuring body temperature is the same in both locations. The hospital did not provide any medical assistance or treatments to me since I am healthy. 

So far, all my COVID-19 tests were negative, and physical examinations show normal health conditions.