Leaving a somewhat COVID-fatigued UK on a Sunday in July and arriving in Nanjing, China was like stepping into another world: one which takes the risks of COVID cross-infection very seriously and that systematically strives to halt, track and trace any spread of the virus at every given opportunity.
My first inklings that China’s relationship with COVID is different to the UK’s came through the rigorous testing required pre-flight, during transit and on arrival. Two days prior to departing, both PCR and intravenous IgM antibody tests must be completed at a designated provider in the UK. Results must be input into a Chinese government website, which issues a Health Declaration Certificate. Valid for circa 50 hours from issue, this must be presented to board one’s flight. At the time of writing, there are no direct flights from the UK to China, and one transit is permitted. However, this must be timed to allow another pair of COVID tests, receipt of their results and the application and provision of a second Health Declaration Certificate (HDC). All whilst in transit!
Once aboard a China-bound flight, masks must be work throughout the duration, which for 11 hours is not preferable. On landing in China, hazmat suit-clad officials usher one’s flight contingent towards a PCR testing area. Before testing, there’s time to show your Health Certificate. But no, this is not the same as the aforementioned HDC. This is a separate declaration of health especially for Chinese customs that needs applying for prior to departure.
Once tested, like the finalé of all flight experiences, you collect your luggage, but then, join a short cue to board the next bus that will ferry you to a quarantine hotel. Perhaps in larger cities, there may be a choice of hotel, but in Nanjing on 11.07.21, members of my flight were sent to a quite pleasant chain hotel, not far from the airport. The rooms were spacious, modern and clean. Three meals a day were left outside one’s room, with a knock on the door signalling their arrival. The staff invite you to one WeChat group and the medical staff invite you to another. Add your room number before your name and enjoy the chats. Well, all but a message that came through after lunch on the second day: “Someone sitting close to you on flight LH*** tested positive for COVID. You must move to another hotel. Please pack and after dinner, we will bring you protective clothing”.
Hazmat suit, hair net, foot coverings, gloves, face mask, hood up, visor. And we’re ready to brave 38 degrees heat in a packed minibus, journey-bound to our new hotel. Fingers crossed it’s as pleasant as the first one. Ah. It isn’t. It’s a little tired, very warm and once assigned my room, off I hauled my luggage, dripping sweat. A heavy smoker had been a resident before me. This will be fine, I told myself. A small room, closed windows, magnolia decor. But at least it had air-con and fast internet.
Twice daily I’d hear an urgent knock at my door, usually circa 7:00 am and then 2 pm. A short, pleasant natured, hazmat-suited doctor would point her thermometer at my forehead and then dash to the next room. Twice weekly, she’d administer a throat and nose PCR test. A result certificate would be posted to my group’s medical WeChat group. Towards the second week, PCR tests were ramped up to daily, we were bussed to a hospital to each have a CT scan, and the same day we were PCR and IgM intravenous tested. Surely, we must be the most COVID-free group of people on the planet?
All results were shared with our WeChat medical group and we were instructed to apply for our green travel certificate. The doctor visited my room with a stamped certificate confirming I’d undertaken quarantine. I signed it and was given two copies. A mini-app within Alipay linked my passport number to my entry date and would only go green after 14 days of quarantine. No green certificate, no travel! Thankfully, on awakening on my day of freedom, my certificate was green. This, together with my signed, stamped quarantine certificate and my PCR and IgM test results, plus a pre-booked train ticket to Wenzhou was literally my way out of quarantine and the keys to my freedom.
My travel information was to be submitted to our house doctor via WeChat. The ticket number, times and seat number were sent ahead to the railway station and to my destination province i.e. Zhejiang. A bus took all of us to our various stations. When we reached my station, the driver called ahead and a station staff member greeted me, checked my COVID test certificates, quarantine certificates, passport and ticket number and steered me towards a special quarantine seating area. As I walked towards the area, a hazmat-clad man continually fumigated the space I’d just passed through. A little shocking at first and certainly a spectacle. As soon as I sat within the special area, he continued to follow anyone coming in and out of our area, fumigating after them.
With military precision, the small team managing us and our area would in a timely fashion collect people for trains, walk them through security gates and see that they embark on the correct trains in their allocated seats.
After a six-hour journey, I picked up that a member of the train staff was fussing concerning me. She looked at me and away rapidly, shuffled some official-looking papers and disembarked the train. As I too alighted, there she was, handing said papers to a young gentleman in a t-shirt emblazoned with the text ‘Police’. A friendly chap, he escorted me and a Chinese fellow-traveller who has also passed through Frankfurt at the same time as me and escorted us through crowds to the front of Wenzhou South station. We were led into an enclosure and asked if our community had arranged to collect us. A quick phone call to my boss and she explained that, because I’d travelled from a high-risk province, I needed to stay for one week in a quarantine hotel. A driver was sent to collect me.
Thankfully, this hotel was not as full-on ‘isolation’-feeling. After a painful, very deep PCR test and a few questions regarding my route into China and I was provided with some complimentary snacks. The room was modern and spacious, but a large sign taped to the door stated (words to the effect of): “Solemn Reminder: The medical observation period. If you go out, once found, will be heavy – We will calculate a new medical observation period. We are using a camera to monitor in real-time.” Again, this quarantine hotel involved twice-daily temperature-taking and twice-weekly PCR testing.
And finally, having been collected by a driver from my community i.e. sent from my employer, I was allowed to move into my apartment for a week of isolation.
