Quarantine Blog - Day 1

Here I am after a 13 month hiatus, back in the motherland, Guernsey. After my travel back yesterday, there is a clear reason why this island is essentially covid free and living a life we are so detached from in the UK. It was only after getting through Guernsey Airport that I could appreciate how poorly managed Gatwick airport has been during a Pandemic. I’ll give you an insight 1st on how Guernsey airport was when we landed. Baring in mind on the day of our travel, Guernsey had banned all non-essential travel. Fortunately/unfortunately enough coming back for a funeral is classed as essential, otherwise as a Guernsey deputy Peter Ferbrache (such a Guernsey name) put it, we would need to:

“cancel your plans, do not travel here. We know the impact of even one case that enters our community undetected can have a serious impact on the freedoms we currently enjoy.

We are not like other jurisdictions who are managing Covid within their communities, we want to preserve the very good position we're in.”

Which, although sounds quite authoritarian, is completely justified given that there is a variation of Covid encapsulating the UK right now. It also seems like a sassy comment aimed at the UK government.

I’ll start from when we actually got into Guernsey Airport. When you enter the Island the rules are you are treated as if you are contaminated, you have Covid! All staff were dressed head to toe in plastic aprons, gloves, with both face masks and visor protectors on. Whenever one of these staff got within 2 metres of you, they would wash their gloves with anti bacterial hand sanitiser after they had finished with you. When we entered the arrivals with the luggage carousel, we were regimentally ordered into a 2 metre spaced one way system and were instructed to wait in our places until our bag reached us. Before all of this we had to have completed a travel tracker online, to give our information of where we had been in the last 14 days, which flight we were travelling on, where we were going to spending our quarantine period, and how we would get to that location from the airport. While waiting for our luggage the staff went round each person to check this had been correctly filled out, by showing them our tracker on our phones, and we were given a paper copy to fill out and sign so we could be held accountable for our actions. We were and still are continually informed that the ratifications of not following these rules/restrictions will be a £10’000 fine. 

Once we received our luggage, we would still not be able to move until the person in front of us had got their’s and could move through the one way system themselves, it was time consuming, but all part of this fantastic response operation. Once we left the luggage area queue we then went onto another 2 metre spaced one way system queue for full mandatory Covid testing. We would wait our turn to enter a booth manned by retired doctors and nurses, again head to toe in plastic and visors. As we entered the booth, we would be told to face a mirror and take off our face mask, a mask we would wear from entering Gatwick to entering our premises of quarantine in Guernsey, 3-4 hours, so anti-maskers, go fuck yourselves. 

The staff would then give us step by step instructions to administer our covid testing, which if you haven’t had one yet, is something that tests your gag reflex. My time as a late teen and the tactical thunder has led me to master such a skill. Although I wasn’t ready to tickle my brain 6 times with a cotton swab through both nostrils. We would then bag these ourselves, throw all the packaging away ourselves, wipe down surfaces we touched ourselves, sanitise ourselves. If you aren’t getting the self-accountability theme here, then you are probably from the UK, where self-accountability as a response to a pandemic is non-existent. 

After testing we would then meet the final staff member where we would give our signed forms, our testing swabs, our passports, and show them that our tracker could now be fully completed and logged out. They would then again provide information on quarantine, ratifications of breaking this (really drilling home that £10'000 fine), and asked us questions to where we were going and how we were getting there. Once we left this area, we could now exit the building. Now, between exit of the arrivals and entering our premises, we could not enter another room, not even to go to the toilet, you could only be even remotely near another person if they were taking you to those premises. This was when I finally got to see my mother (with mask) after 13 months, I cannot begin tell you how difficult it was not to immediately jump into her arms. But our interaction was sat in opposite seats in the car, me in the row behind with all windows rolled down in 0c temperatures. She then drove me to our quarantine address. 15 minutes, with the windows rolled down wasn’t a comfortable experience, but clearly a necessary one. 

Along that drive I witnessed life again, people walking in and out of shops with no masks on, people rammed into pubs stood at the bar talking in confined spaces, I felt guilty being here. Once we arrived at our destination she then had to leave immediately while we would enter a premises that we cannot leave for the next 14 days, not even to exercise. We cannot have visitors other than to drop off deliveries, we cannot be outside in the garden while they are making these deliveries, it’s proper quarantine, not the UK’s easily bendable style. 

I’m quite fortunate to be spending this quarantine with my brother, sister in law and their housemates for this time in a very comfortable house with a swimming pool, but I know of others who have had to spend this time in a hotel room without being able to leave. After 13 days we will be able to have another test, if all come back negative we will be able to leave and see our families, if even one comes back positive we will spend another week in quarantine. Authorities will ring us throughout the weeks to check in on us, not to just make sure we haven’t left the building, but also on how we’re coping. We will get a random house visit, and the Police will enforce any restrictions being broken. 

If you’re in the UK, you’ll probably be sat at home thinking this all sounds a tad extreme. If you’re in Guernsey, sat in pub surrounded by friends/family, hugging, sharing drinks, able to leave one pub and go to another without having to phone ahead to book a table, you’re probably smiling with pride at this response. Because you should be fucking proud of it. 

My personal favourite thing throughout this whole experience? Not one person said sorry to me. They never apologised for their response, yes it was time consuming and you could see other passengers begin to grumble, but never did they say sorry, because why should they. When you could go out in the UK, you would constantly be apologised to for restrictions. I’ll emphasise this, there really is no need in a global pandemic! When you apologise, no matter in what scenario, you immediately admit fault. The balance between consumer and employee then becomes immediately unsettled, the consumer becomes entitled to moan. When you don’t apologise and the consumer moans, the consumer is the dickhead. If you work in customer service I’m going to give you a top tip. Instead of saying sorry, say:

“Thank you for your patience”

This cripples the consumer, they assume the role of gratefulness, trust me it’s works every time.

Gatwick Airport? 0 social distancing, staff only wearing face masks, the occasional perspex screen, security complete free for all, trays not being sanitised after use, arrivals walking directly through queues for departures, 0 one way systems, shops/coffee shops open, no enforced distancing signs on seats, 0 temperature checks, no covid testing at all….you get the idea. 

UnIteD kInGdOm - Total Cases 2.56 Million

Total Deaths 79’833

Current Daily Cases 68’053

Guernsey - Total Cases 302

Total Deaths 13

Current Daily Cases 0

Yes, I totally get that it is far more manageable response for Guernsey, as it is smaller and operations do not have to deal with the numbers of people that they do in the UK. But there is distinct difference in border response. After a Brexit that, lets face the uncomfortable truth, was based on controlling borders and stopping immigrants entering. The UK had chance to shut borders completely, which both right wing and left wing people would have emphasised with. While being landlocked from other countries, the UK could have had similar response to Australia and New Zealand, but instead left it as a free for all/herd immunity. This has cost lives and not just in the literal sense. I just want to use this platform to say:

“FUCKING WELL DONE GUERNSEY BORDER CONTROL!”

As for the rest of our night, we did what any Guern would do, drank. We also had the most intense game of Jenga ever, and this morning it dawned on me that I need to find something to do for 14 days locked up. Unfortunately this blog only took a couple of hours, and swimming in near on ice only lasted 20 odd seconds(totally understand those adverts telling you just to float and not panic….because I panicked). Here’s to the next 13 days.