Hey everyone, I’m unsure of whether this belongs in this thread or needs its own (mods discretion) For context we chose the 7+7+7 quarantine plan.
Anyway, has anyone here been through a similar situation to the one I’m currently in? I arrived in Taiwan with my family (Taiwanese wife and two kids 6 & 4) from Australia a couple of days ago. This is what has happened in sequence;
We all had a PCR test within 48 hours of the departing flight. All returned a negative result for COVID.
Arrived in Taoyuan airport early morning and immediately took another PCR test which came back as negative for myself and the kids but positive!? for my wife. It’s amazing because she literally tested negative 48 hours earlier and had and still has no symptoms. We were then separated there on the spot with my wife directly taken to hospital via ambulance. The staff helped as best as they could but all in all me not knowing any Chinese… it took 4 hours before the kids and I left the airport and managed to get to the quarantine hotel.
Upon arrival at the hotel in Taoyuan (I can give the name in PM in case anyone’s interested) the lady at reception instantly changed her attitude to the kids and I once she knew my wife had tested positive…like spraying everything in front of me and making weird disgusted noises/speaking over me etc. We had previously been told cash was required but she suddenly changed to card only because of the above (refusing us entry) until we could fix it. She then gave all the written instructions about what is required of us in Chinese (I asked if there were any in English) ignored me.
Finally we get up to our room which admittedly is large (can PM Pics). The police believe it or not have been great so far and very nice/understanding! two days pass by with my wife able to LINE me from the hospital. She’s received two negative tests while there with the doctors wondering how she even ended up there.
Suddenly today I receive a call from the reception downstairs (same nasty lady) telling me I now need to stay a further 7 days (14 days) in total in the hotel quarantine. I was a bit shocked especially considering my wife had been testing negative at the hospital. She just ignored me as if accusing me of something saying she called multiple times (once only while I was showering my kid) I asked her what her problem was and to watch her tone when talking with me. Still refused to answer any question I asked her.
One hour later (now) Police call me apologetically and say that responsibility for our family has been handed over to the CDC and that a further 7 days is what the CDC wants despite the repeated negative tests from my wife in Hospital. I’ve had no correspondence from them and didn’t even know this was a rule? Is it a new rule and if so has anyone has this type of experience?
**Apologies for the extremely long rant I’m just beside myself, separated from my partner with work that needs to be done, and two kids in a hotel room for 14 days instead of 7? Also, when I asked about the extra cost I haven’t received any answer yet.
OMG. I think I’d be bouncing off the walls about now.
This stuff is utterly fecking ridiculous. Why didn’t they just do a confirmatory test on your wife on the spot? Who dreams up this unscientific, expensive, and pointless theater? What drives me nuts is that the functionaries on the ground aren’t on the phone to the people making the rules telling them “stop this already”.
So does your wife get out of hospital or does she still have to stay there until … uhh, she delivers a negative COVID test?
Sorry, this is terrible. Have you tried calling 1922? Sometimes it’s nice to go straight to the source. During our quarantine 2 months ago we found 1922 to be the most knowledgeable, then the police a bit less, and the hotel even less.
That said, I think it’s likely the police are just relaying instructions they already got from the CDC. I would pretty much ignore the hotel though, they seem immature.
No helpful suggestions either, but it’s obviously shit. I wonder if this matches what Taiwan has been doing lately with regular contacts of domestic confirmed cases (do they get detained for a particular period of time, or does it depend on a certain number of negative test results?), because you presumably count as close contacts of your wife. Stupid that three negative tests and one positive test is automatically interpreted as “positive” though, as opposed to wondering whether it’s a false positive (I’ve wondered for a while whether they have any procedure for ruling those out, but it doesn’t sound like it).
A sad thing I’ve learned during the response to the pandemic is there is a significant proportion of people who have a little fascist inside them waiting for the opportunity to get out. My guestimate is around 30 to 40 percent of any given population.
Has your wife been able to get any information from the hospital as to what the requirements are for her to exit quarantine? She should call 1922 if the hospital are not giving answers.
Get a contact in CDC from the police and deal with that person. The issue of cost is a bit problematic, if you put your foot down and refuse to pay for the hotel you may be moved to a “free” government facility for the second 7 days and that’s pretty much pot luck. Depends on your tolerance for BS! You could simply refuse to move or pay, they’re unlikely to try to forcibly remove you and two kids as the publicity would be terrible.
Should you do this be sure to emphasis that all statement are “in your opinion” rather than statements of fact, otherwise you risk them suing you…e.g. “the food was too salty for my taste” rather than “the food was too salty”
So far it appears that my wife’s stay in the hospital is on the house so to speak but I’m unsure as to whether this would transfer over to be in an APRC holder. I imagine it does though? I called some government number today and I’m entitled to apply for some sort of $1,000 NTD rebate on the hotel stay as soon as I can actually leave quarantine and get an ARC number (new spouse/resident visa). They also said it would take up to two months from receipt of application to receive said rebate though…
It’s driving me nuts (that and the kids 24/7 haha). Altogether she’s tested negative on 4 out of 5 tests with l negative being pre-travel and 3 negatives after the positive arrival test. I’m not a scientist but surely there’s some sort of stuff up? Regardless though it appears as if we’re collateral damage.
There MAY be a chance that if she tests negative again that she’s allowed to join our little hotel party for the next 11 days.
Yea the Police were nice but ultimately they gave me the wrong info in that I should contact the CDC and that we’re now their responsibility etc. Eventually worked out it’s Taoyuan council that is the relevant contact. 1922 were confused why we were calling them initially haha but could at least direct me.
I’m guessing the procedure is just err on the side of caution no matter if there are 9 negative and 1 positive test result. I’m probably just assuming but it certainly appears this way from what my wife is telling me. They have their own LINE group in the hospital sharing this kind of sentiment (admittedly anecdotes)
I’m not quite sure what to do about the hotel receptionist but I’ve told her that I want her name and want to lodge a complaint etc. She was really that rude and abrasive even towards my kids so I’m trying to balance getting through the next 11 days and not accepting that type of behavior.
Wife has been able to get answers from the hospital thankfully in some way. She might be able to join us (iffy maybe) in the hotel if she keeps testing negative.
Cost-wise we might be able to get some sort of rebate but upon calling the office dealing with this, the wait time, if it’s approved, is 2-3 months (realistically) so essentially they just said deal with it.
The rest of the hotel staff have been ok. It’s just one staff member who has behaved this way every time I’ve had the joy of speaking with her. I’ve already chewed her out over the phone but I honestly wouldn’t past her to be vindictive.
What?!?!?? You can’t even leave an honest review in Taiwan if the hotel staff are abusive to you? How on earth does anyone consider this a free country if they are free to be abusive and hostile but you have no way of warning people?