Four COVID-positive patients who were quarantined tell their stories
- Seafarer was quarantined for a total of 90 days
- Nurse from the frontlines took it as a time to rest
- Barangay worker depended on God and enjoyed the VIP treatment
- Nurse in Saudi struggled with anxiety and sleepless nights; said family in PH encouraged her to get well through video calls
There’s nothing like home, they say. That’s why in the earlier part of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, medical and government authorities did not say no to COVID-positive patients choosing home isolation.
In the past week, government authorities have made statements discouraging home isolation, blaming that as a factor in the increased transmission of the virus among families and small communities.
Only yesterday, government ordered all quarantine facilities around the country to instal wi-fi connection to encourage COVID-positive patients to go to quarantine facilities.
Manila Bulletin talked to four people who were quarantined for two reasons — upon arrival as an overseas worker, and after testing positive for the virus. Here are their stories — a seafarer who was on quarantine for a total of 90 days, from his ship to a foreign country, to the Philippines, to his hometown; a nurse who viewed the isolation as a staycation; a barangay administrator who took delight in the “VIP treatment”; and an overseas worker who struggled with anxiety attacks and sleepless nights fearing that she wouldn’t wake up from sleep.
The seafarer
It was in the middle of May when suddenly the ship that was “home” to a Filipino seafarer became uncomfortable ground.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had been declared a pandemic, and around the world, countries had closed borders. For seafarers like Joelex Segui, 29, from Camarines Sur, it meant that work stopped and he now had to go through the mandatory quarantine before any person is allowed entry into a country and finally entry to his hometown.
He did not realize that this was only going to be the start of a 90-day quarantine from one place to another until he was finally allowed to be home with his family in Camarines Sur.
Anxiety took over the ship, each one entertaining thoughts of “what if I contracted the virus?” In several cruise ships in other parts of the world, the virus had infected passengers and crew.
“Nakakabagot na nakakalungkot at nakakatakot. Syempre dahil malayo kami sa pamilya namin. At tuloy pa rin ang pagtaas ng kaso ng COVID. Gusto namin na kaagad makauwi. Kasi takot kami para sa pamilya namin (It was sad and frightening. While cases of COVID-19 continued to rise, we were away from our families. We wanted to go home immediately because we were worried about our families),” Segui said.
For two months, Segui and the officers and crew of the ship were quarantined. It was only in July, after all of them tested negative for the virus when they were all allowed to disembark in Malaysia, on their way back to the Philippines.
Entering every border – first in Malaysia where the ship docked, then in Manila, and then in his town – required a quarantine period. He was on quarantine in a hotel in Malaysia for 12 days. Then in Manila, he was again in quarantine for 8 days before he was allowed to go home after testing negative for COVID-19.
At his hometown, he was required by the local government unit to quarantine in a barangay facility for 14 days.
From the comfortable quarters in his ship, to the hotels in Malaysia and Manila, his new quarantine facility was in a village facility which he said was quite uncomfortable. He opted to stay in a nipa hut near the quarantine facility where he hoped he could rest in comfort. Before he transferred, his father had to fix the damaged parts of the hut so that he would not get wet when it rained.
His family brought him food everyday, leaving it outside the door. And from a distance, they would wave at him.
Healthcare workers came to check on him every three days.
Things went well until the ninth day when he experienced difficulty in breathing. On that day, he also learned that one of his colleagues in Manila had tested positive for the disease.
“Nakakatakot, nakakapraning. Araw-araw ko nakikita ang anak ko. Iniisip ko, malapit na anak. After almost 12 months, mayayakap na kita. Kaya lang paano kung ako rin? Paano kung may virus ako (It was frightening! I saw my daughter every day from a distance. I thought, I was almost there, I could finally hug my child after almost 12 months of absence. But what if I have the virus)?” Segui said.
On his 10th day of quarantine in the nipa hut, he was transferred to the local government facility located three kilometers away from his home. He had to be isolated with 13 other patients who had also tested positive for COVID-19.
Two weeks later, the result of his swab came in – he was negative for COVID!
“Masaya (Happy),” was all he managed to say when he was finally told to pack his things and go home. He could only think about holding his little daughter in his arms after a long journey back home — 90 days of being in quarantine.
The nurse
After working almost 16 hours a day as a frontliner since the pandemic broke out, a 30-year-old oncology nurse looked at his isolation as a “time to rest and recharge.”
Bobby, not his real name, tested positive for COVID-19 last August 5. He was asymptomatic.
He was immediately admitted in the hospital’s quarantine facility.
The first day inside the facility was an adjustment, he said, because all of a sudden his daily routine was reduced to being in a room with two other strangers, doing nothing but trying to trace back all his possible contacts.
“Madaming uncertainties, pero nawala naman lahat yung worries nung sinerve yung food namin, may welcome fruits, may toiletries din, air-conditioned yung room and may wifi, technically short of staycation yung situation ko/namin dito (There were a lot of uncertainties at first but it suddenly disappeared when they served the food, there was a tray of welcome fruits, toiletries, Wi-fi connection. My room was air conditioned. My situation was technically short of a staycation),” he said.
Nights within the facility were fine and quiet and the days started whenever you wanted it to start. It’s totally up to you, Bobby said.
While mild anxiety was quick to kick in upon learning that he was COVID-positive, he thought of it as God’s intervention to give him rest after the long hours of work with only a week of break since the start of the pandemic.
“I keep telling myself that God had reason for bringing me here. Maybe I was already overworked for the past few months when the pandemic broke out. I was assigned to the COVID unit for two months, then back to the cancer unit from where I was originally. I had a one-week rest but that’s it. My colleagues and I have been working non-stop. So in hindsight, I was just given time to rest and recharge, only I am not with my family and friends,” he said.
Bobby was finally cleared on August 17 after testing negative for the disease. He is back at the frontlines.
The barangay administrator
Alexi Quicho Santos, a barangay administrator, also found his stay at the quarantine facility at the World Trade Center comfortable.
“VIP treatment, it’s like we were booked in a hotel, I had a personal cubicle complete with hygiene products, linen, pillow, bed, and personal table,” the 34-year-old Santos said.
It was a tough experience, he said, but because “the enemy is unseen” he also depended on the unseen.
“Mahirap kung mahirap pero dahil ang kalaban natin hindi nakikita --yung coronavirus, mas nag-depend lang talaga ako sa hindi din nakikita -- si God. Alam kong makakauwi din naman ako at parang two weeks rest day lang yung ni-treat ko sa pag stay ko doon sa isolation facility (It’s tough but because the enemy is unseen, I also depended on the unseen -- God. I knew I can go home and that I was only at the isolation facility for two weeks of ‘rest day’),” Santos said.
There wasn’t a time when Santos felt he was a patient. “It was as if they I was a hotel guest,” he said and went on to keep a positive outlook while under quarantine.
In order to get the anxiety off his mind, he even thought of himself playing the role of a “housemate” in the famous reality TV show “Big Brother House.”
On July 27, he finally tested negative and was sent home.
“I was very excited to see my family again and go back to service as a frontliner,” Santos said.
He is now back at being a barangay administrator in Tangos-South, Navotas City where he helps in handling the distribution of cash assistance for indigent families and solo parents affected by the pandemic.
The nurse in Saudi
For Aubrey Rose Enriquez, 25, a nurse working in Saudi Arabia, nights in an isolation facility was the most dreaded part of the day especially because she was in a foreign country.
“At first nakakapanibago and may fear, and ‘di mo alam kung ano ba ang nangyayari sa labas kasi bawal lumabas. Nakakatakot kapag gabi, kasi nagiging anxious ako. Then takot akong matulog sa gabi gusto ko gising lang ako hanggang sa mag umaga (It was unusual at first as fear was there because you don’t know what’s happening outside. It’s scary at night because I became anxious. I was scared of going to sleep, I just wanted to be awake until morning),” Enriquez shared.
“I was really anxious while inside the quarantine facility. I was crying. I was afraid to sleep because I might not wake up the next day,” she said.
Enriquez was found positive for COVID in July upon arrival in Taif City in Saudi Arabia, from a vacation in the Philippines.
Being away from her family while going through those tough times was the hardest part, she said, but it was also her family back home who encouraged her to get well.
She was able to get through those scary nights by looking forward to the next morning that would start with a video call from her family.
“I was alone in the facility. I didn’t know if being alone helped but I just kept on praying,” Enriquez said.
She stayed for 20 days inside the quarantine facility provided for healthcare workers of the hospital where she worked.
On July 31, she was finally discharged and went back to being a medical frontliner.
“I was very happy because I could finally sleep well. The scary nights are gone. I won’t be thinking about a lot of things every night,” she said.