Self-quarantine: a Journey of One
Self-quarantine in a foreign place is a lonely journey of one. Since the coronavirus hit Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University requires all students returning from Mainland China to stay in Dr. Ng Tor Tai International House, a student residence on campus, for a 14-day self-quarantine. Students must wear a mask when leaving the room and monitor the body temperature every day. Oliver Zhao, a year-one mainland student majoring in European Studies, just returned from Guangdong province. Though living in the undergraduate student hall before, he has been arranged to live in a double room in NTT alone and start his days of ‘isolation’.
After celebrating Chinese New Year in Foshan, Guangdong, Zhao returned to HKBU via bus on February 7th. Considering of the worse COVID-19 situation and the partial border closure, he struggled to make the decision of coming back transferring in Zhuhai.
Zhao is assigned to a double room in NTT for 14-day self-quarantine. University’s updated claim of extending suspension and the government policy of mandatory 14-day quarantine starting from February 8th stop most of students in mainland to come back so that Zhao will live for a fortnight alone. He says that if he talks to nobody for a whole day, he would feel like getting a depressive disorder.
Zhao spends most of his time on e-learning since HKBU cancel all on-campus face-to-face classes and open online courses instead amid the coronavirus outbreak. He says that studying a language through zoom is not satisfactory mainly because the pronunciation is not very clear.
Zhao goes to wash his clothes at the laundry on the 5th floor of NTT, where the cost is three times as much as it is in the Hall.
This is the current opening hour of Main Canteen on the 5th floor of AAB, which doesn't change much as usual. Under such a serious circumstance, many restaurants re-scheduled their business time. Three of the seven canteens in campus suspend for further notice.
To reduce the frequency of going out and keep a healthy diet, Zhao sometimes makes meals by himself with simple food materials.
Zhao gets some food for a friend buried in online courses. Asking friends who have already finished quarantine to bring some food and ordering a take-out are mainly ways for students who are currently doing a mandatory quarantine to get meals.
Zhao buys a bottle of hand sanitizer for disinfection and washes hands frequently, especially after coming back from the outside. Everyone is required to pay highly attention to personal hygiene.
NTT distributed 10 masks to the residents every 10 days to help with the quarantine. Adding in those Zhao prepared before, he stores more than 30 masks in total for a long-term use.
Zhao checks his temperature whenever thinking of it. During the self-quarantine, students should monitor the body temperature every day. NTT provide a thermometer on the 9th floor, where they arrange students backing from Mainland China earlier, to offer convenience.
When Zhao completes 14-day self-quarantine, he can move back to his room in the Hall.
The extended suspension of classes at Hong Kong Baptist University caters to the COVID-19 situation. The number of people appearing around the campus these days are much fewer than usual.