Thanks for the update. Sigh. I was somewhat understanding of similar hassles back in May, when they were theoretically just getting the system sorted out and cases were exploding. But now, several months later and with cases ebbing? Disappointing. Systems shouldn’t be set up to make it so hard to do what should be the right thing.
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Yeah, I remember you had the same issue. Everyone I spoke to agreed about how I’d calculated it…but nonetheless, the notice showed 8 full days after the date of diagnosis. It was such a pain to fix.
The weird thing is that the app allowed video consultation appointments to be booked like 3–4 days in advance, which if our experiences are anything to go by would have had me doing my 7 days at home for up to 11–12 days after the positive test result/symptoms.
I have no clue why the messages for the updated quarantine notice didn’t come through until the doctor entered his own number. Apparently they’d been sent to my number at least twice. I wonder if it’s some weird coding/systems thing related to me not being Taiwanese and causing some automated process to break. I can’t be the first person in ca. 4.5 million cases to have this problem…
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Thanks for sharing your experience. Did you have any reason for reporting the case rather than just isolating at home until you tested negative? Was it to get the meds?
What medicines would you recommend stocking up on?
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As far as I can understand, the main differences between May and now are you were able to get the quarantine time adjusted - I wasn’t, despite lots of time my wife spent on the phone (two days “lost” to overlong quarantine in my case). And you had to pay, but I didn’t. On the other hand, I didn’t get any medicine, and you did. I don’t recall if drugs were offered and I refused, or if they didn’t offer at all, or if my wife refused on my behalf (but that’d be odd - she’d never, ever refuse any TCM on offer).
Answering the question @DunderMifflin just asked, about why to report: for me, 60% to make sure I had a positive case in my records in case I needed to explain a “lingering” positive several weeks later, e.g. upon flying to Canada - others have had an “official” quarantine start long after they’d finished their own unofficial isolation (that never became an issue for me). 30% it felt like the right thing to do. 10% I thought I should probably have something ready to show work as an explanation / excuse if I did get sick enough to be unable to teach online. That never happened, but it did turn out useful to avoid a big pointless in-person meeting.
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My motivation was similar to @lostinasia’s – I thought there was a chance that a confirmed diagnosis and recovery might possibly come in handy for traveling later this year, and I thought it was the “right thing to do” (I don’t really think this anymore, after doing it).
The government also likes to make a big deal about the daily numbers being meaningful despite a lot of people apparently not reporting (so I figured I’d help them make the numbers slightly more reliable 
), and I was simply curious about the process. I was going to stay at home for a week anyway, so it didn’t make much difference…but I wasn’t expecting all this hassle about the dates.
Oh yeah, and on the first night I called 1922 to find out the situation after testing positive and gave my name and ARC number (oops!), so I was kind of committed to reporting after that…
I didn’t care that much about the meds. I have enough stuff at home anyway to get me through anything that doesn’t require a hospital visit. I didn’t take everything, especially the anti-phlegm drug because I didn’t have much of a cough, or follow the prescribed instructions, but I took the acetaminophen and decongestant before bed just in case. Honestly, I mostly relied on a Lemsip/Panadol-type drink (Costco), and I would have done that anyway.
The NRICM101 wasn’t that bad either. I’m not really convinced by most TCM stuff and I remember the clinical trial for this seemed rather minimal, but a friend dropped some off. I’m not sure it did me any more benefit than drinking any other hot drink, maybe with lemon and honey, but I figured it was worth a try anyway.
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I’ll add to this thread a snippet of my experience, in case its helpful to anyone else.
Having read the above, I went to the website of the local clinics linked to in the blog article and downloaded and translated the addresses of the clinics in order to get my COVID test validated. They translated really well, and fortunately, I was able to find a clinic 100m away from where I live. Double fortunately, they all spoke perfect English (which is surprising given where I live). The process of getting the test validated took about 30 minutes (they asked the brand of the rapid test, presumably, to ensure it wasn’t a dodgy one), took photos of me with the test result and my health care care and processed everything for me. When I first said I was coming in to confirm a positive test, they all looked at me like I was the bogeyman, but for the remainder of the time I was there they interacted with me quite normally. I think I went into the clinic in between sessions in the middle of the day, so there weren’t actually people there waiting for doctors/appointments.
They actually didn’t ask for payment.
They offered meds, which I refused. They said they could give me a certificate of diagnosis if I wanted it for insurance, and I said I would take one (in case I need it for travel or proving I had COVID). You get a certification the next day by text message/downloadable link, but I got one anyway. That cost 200NTD.
So, I was able to avoid all of the hassle of downloading that app, navigating everything in Chinese, having to enter lots of details myself and all of the run-around Andrew describes.
The blog article, and @Andrew 's posts point to some useful things, like being prepared food wise, taking out the trash of if you suspect you might be diagnosed positive, having certain things on hand like toilet paper for potential diarrhea, maybe cough medicines (I bought those soother type things for the sore throat, and am glad I did), painkillers, and so on. I wish I’d purchased electrolytes for the diarrhea as I was passing a lot of water.
I also wish I’d thought about vitamins and supplements I would want to take and made sure I had those on hand. I have some, but overlooked not having any zinc on hand, and there others I’ve found in my research that I would have liked to have had available.
I had someone call me this morning (day 3), and they asked if I could speak Chinese, in Chinese, when I said no, they confirmed in English by asking the same question. When I said no, they said goodbye. So I’m not sure what they were calling about.
The quarantine period is essentially 8 days, which I can deal with. Definitely, having a rough plan and considering the basics discussed in this thread and the blog post is well worthwhile, so you’re not inconvenienced during the quarantine period.
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