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Coronavirus pandemic
Hong KongSociety

Penny’s Bay diary: evergreen survival tips, questions from readers and some of the serious issues around being cooped up in quarantine

  • Be ready to distract yourself with books, movies and – if possible – work, but don’t hesitate to ask for counselling help if it all gets to be too much
  • Our managing editor, meanwhile, tackles reader questions for the first time. And no, you cannot smoke by the window

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Yes, you can crack your window open for some welcome ventilation. No, you cannot blow smoke out of it. Photo: Brian Rhoads
Brian Rhoads
South China Morning Post managing editor Brian Rhoads recently flew home to the United States to attend a memorial service for his late father. After he had already left, the Hong Kong government moved the US into a new high-risk category, meaning he will spend the first of his three weeks of quarantine at the government’s Penny’s Bay facility. Over the next seven days, he will recount his experience. You can read about Day 4 here.
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Now into a fifth day in the close confines of Hong Kong’s government quarantine centre, and – cheeky columns about snacks and heart-covered bedsheets aside – there is a bitter reality we all face.

Being penned up between the same four hard walls for a week, not to mention three once the hotel is thrown in, can be a lonely, cold and wearisome experience, regardless of the merits in curbing the spread of the coronavirus’ Omicron variant. Overnight, health authorities changed the policy to four days at Penny’s Bay and 17 days of hotel quarantine, but the centre was still trying to determine how that affects those of us who arrived under the seven-day/14-day rule. For now, this remains Day 6.

The impact of confinement can be significant in that uncertain space between your ears.

Some can no doubt shrug it off, but for others, getting through it requires some resolve, some routine and some distractions. In this instalment, and I’m no expert, I’ll share what I know or have done some research on.

Bring some books to distract yourself during quarantine. Our managing editor is working his way through John Le Carre’s ‘The Honourable Schoolboy’, among others. Photo: Brian Rhoads
Bring some books to distract yourself during quarantine. Our managing editor is working his way through John Le Carre’s ‘The Honourable Schoolboy’, among others. Photo: Brian Rhoads

First, on a serious note, if you are feeling distressed or depressed, contact the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre and the management can arrange counselling. The toll on mental health has been amplified by a pandemic that has lasted nearly two years, periodically locking us down, separating us from friends, families, colleagues and support networks. And all this time, a tiny pathogen has been stalking and trying to kill us.

SCMP Series
Penny’s Bay diary: a stint in Hong Kong quarantine
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