Covid 19 Coronavirus: Jack Tame on Life in Hamilton Managed Isolation Facility

Jack Tame has returned to New Zealand after covering the US presidential elections. Tame was the host of this morning’s Newstalk ZB Saturday Morning program from managed isolation.

OPINION:

He doesn’t find out where he will be in quarantine until the plane hits the runway in New Zealand.

A policeman is the first person to go down the airlift. Take the mic at the front of the booth.

“Hello everyone, welcome back to New Zealand.”

“On behalf of the Government of New Zealand, I am in charge of arranging his transportation to a Managed Isolation Facility. Today, we are taking him to Hamilton.”

Uncle. Nothing against the Tron … but after crossing the United States and 13 hours over the Pacific, nobody is very interested in a bus trip.

Before we went through customs, a nurse examined us. Do you know the little arrival cards where they ask you if you have fruits or vegetables or items that are worth more than 10,000 dollars? They have added a couple of extra pages just for Covid-19.

When we got to our hotel in Hamilton, the army was waiting. A young captain dressed in camouflage got on the bus and explained that we would all disembark, one by one, and another nurse would examine us. “I know it sucks,” he said. “But it will be fine. You may not realize this, but the parking lot here is one of the largest exercise areas of all the isolation hotels.”

A Taiwanese man came up and greeted us with a waiata. “On the count of three, everyone says Kia Ora!” A clearly tame answer.

“Come on! This is going to be fun!” he said. “Let’s do Zumba classes! Kia Kaha whānau”.

Inside, they had trestle tables with KitKats, apples, and Whittaker chocolate. At the end of the hall, there were five or six nurses installed. After each of them finished checking a passenger, they sprayed the chair with disinfectant.

There was a welcome pack in my room. A diary. A pack of letters. And an 86-page guide to living in managed isolation.

One of our first priorities was completing two weeks of meal requests. You have three options for dinner and lunch. It arrives in a paper bag and someone knocks on your door. So far, it’s been great. It doesn’t have a Michelin star, no. But hey. Healthy enough, fresh, spicy and tasty. What have I eaten so far? Roast Chicken, Smoked Salmon Salad, Chicken Caesar Salad, Vegetarian Korma. You can order takeout and receive it. My colleague sent his Playstation. I was walking down the hall when I saw a soldier and the hotel manager carrying an exercise bike into someone else’s room.

For two hours a day we are allowed to roam in the parking lot. The hotel only has passengers from my plane and is divided into five different groups. So, for example, my group may have time to walk from 9am to 10am. And then another hour from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Every morning, first thing in the morning, 10 people are allowed to run at a time.

The entire perimeter of the hotel is surrounded by security fences. There are private soldiers and security guards … and they are strict with the rules. We asked if we could leave a small GoPro camera at reception for one of our colleagues from the outside world to pick it up. It would have saved us hours of work and the camera is only the size of a lemon; It could have been sanitized with a couple of wipes. Sorry, they said. The rules say nothing comes out. Fair enough too.

There are all kinds of little things that many of us don’t think about. You cannot wash until you have passed the Covid-19 test on the third day. There is no recycling. Instead, you just put the plastic and cans in a big black bag.

One of the hotel managers told me that when we leave, it will take three days to do a deep cleaning of the entire building. Three days just to wash the clothes in all the rooms, and then another plane full of people will arrive. There are 32 hotels in New Zealand that are doing this at the moment. So far, I don’t think I fully appreciated the logistics of the national quarantine operation.

Do I want to be quarantined? Of course not. But so far I have no complaints. People are trying their best to be incredibly hospitable and welcoming. It’s almost embarrassing. My hotel manager said they receive an extraordinary variety of people … businessmen and women, people returning to New Zealand after years abroad, and many people who are here due to grief. They have lost their loved ones.

And look, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. Ask me again on the 12th how I feel! It could be a Lord of the Flies situation. But even though I can’t go anywhere for a full two weeks, it feels great to be home.