Today is Day 3 of my Managed Isolation; the day of arrival is counted as Day 0 here. So far, I’ve got myself into a routine. My previous experience with quarantine in Kuching really helps with the discipline. My routine is roughly as follows:
- 0645: Wake and coffee.
- 0730: Yoga including sun salutations.
- 0830: Breakfast.
- 0900: Time on computer and/or outdoor in courtyard.
- 1100: Lower body and core exercises.
- 1230: Lunch.
- 1330: Time on computer.
- 1400 or 1500: Supervised walk.
- 1600: Time on computer.
- 1700: Upper body exercises.
- 1830: Dinner.
- 1930: Relax.
- 2200: Sleep.
The first few days was unusually difficult for me. I haven’t had jetlag for many years but somehow I got hit with it this time. Perhaps it was due to not sleeping on the flight. Or maybe it’s because I haven’t flown internationally much over the last nine months!
I felt tired and hungry at the wrong times through the day; they didn’t even correspond to sleeping or eating times back in Malaysia.
On Day 1, we had a briefing by the Navy head honcho. He had taken over from the guy who had left a couple of hours after I arrived at the hotel.
Today, being Day 3, I had my swab test. Here, the nurses don’t wear full PPE but only an over-gown. They only took a swab from my right nostril, as opposed to both nostrils and throat in Kuching.
Each day, the nurses also perform a health check. When they knock on the door, they take one’s temperature and ask if you have symptoms. This is very much like in Kuching but here they also check on any concerns, which I suppose is checking on mental health.
Here, on some days they do the health check by phone instead of door-knocking, so the temperature check is skipped. Everything in New Zealand is more relaxed! My cousin was telling me that in Singapore, despite her jet lag, she can’t sleep during the day as they do spot checks several times through the day!