Jerry Grey, an Australian who lives in Zhongshan, Guangdong province started his quarantine at home on March 18th. We invited him to share what his life is like:

I didn’t wake up this morning. My wife came into the apartment because I hadn’t heard the phone.

The reason my wife rushed round, at 10 am, was not to break the isolation, or because she was worried about me, the local community services had called her and asked her to translate for me while I was given a form to sign.

When the man arrived, it was the usual three-person team, security officer and two others (community officer and medical worker). One of them spoke excellent English and presented me with a form which was written in English. I signed to say I give permission to take a COVID-19 test and that was it, they left after 10 seconds! No translator needed, but nice to see Ann.

[Photo provided by Jerry Grey]

The afternoon went by in a blur of emails and social media – I haven’t been bored at all. Then suddenly, it was temperature check time, about 4:30. I do think it might be more efficient to manage the teams better, three people for a form in the morning, three people for a temperature check in the afternoon and, after another 40 minutes or so, three people for my second Covid-19 test.

The test wasn’t very difficult, Ann was there so, no need for them to worry about instruction that might be misunderstood, she’s a great translator. I sat on a chair, opened my mouth and said ahhhh, for what seemed like a long time. The first test was a momentary discomfort that was over as soon as I recognized it had begun, the second test was a little more uncomfortable but certainly not painful and really nothing to be worried about. They left me with the information that: if I haven’t heard anything in three days, the test is negative, but they will only tell me if it’s positive. The waiting begins…

Then Ann went shopping and came back with enough food to last me a couple of days. I cooked a delicious Thai curry with Chicken and potatoes and enjoyed it for both lunch and dinner.

I enjoyed a glass of wine with the last of the curry and settled down to watch one of my favourites – the Grand tour China episode. I love Jeremy Clarkson and the team and this was one of their best.

Author: Jerry Grey

Edited by Newsgd.com