Hotel Quarantine, Sydney, Australia in September 2021
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It wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be.
It’s Freedom Day here in New South Wales. Australia is celebrating a milestone and is coming out of a lockdown that had been in effect for several months now.
I have been in Australia for almost one month. My first two weeks here were spent in Hotel Quarantine in the state of New South Wales. Once I landed in Australia, I had to participate in mandatory quarantine.
After I disembarked from the plane, I was met by several nurses who checked for symptoms of COVID-19. Then my group and I went through customs, grabbed our luggage, and were met with military and police outside. The military handled our luggage and put it under the bus.
A police officer handed me a bag of masks, some sanitizer, and a stack of paperwork from the NSW police and Service NSW. We got onto a bus and rode to our quarantine hotels. We did not know the location or hotel we were traveling to.
I arrived at my hotel in Sydney. A member of the military selected the 14th-floor button, and I began the ascent to my room with my baggage.
Once I arrived at my room, I was pleasantly surprised.
I was in a large room, on the corner of the building. I had sweeping views of the city and a full bath, a large bed, a mounted television on the wall with my name on the display welcoming me.
In addition, I received 3 meals a day. The food was delicious. I received a call from a nurse each day and was encouraged to speak with a mental health professional if I felt I needed to.
The hotel I was staying at had its own social media page for quarantined travelers. They wished us goodnight every evening on Facebook and gave us a handout with word…
