Friday 7 August 2020 2:54pm
Finance Associate, Alena Khan.
Health Sciences Finance Associate, Alena Khan, tells her story of returning to New Zealand from Russia.
Travelling during 'coronavirus times' was a bit of a unique experience. My trip to my home country, Russia, was supposed to be one month but I ended up spending four and a half months there. I usually travel back from my home city (Yekaterinburg) to Auckland with a connection in Dubai. This time things were a little different. My only choice was to travel through Europe and then fly back to Dubai. My airline Emirates also added a sudden stopover in Thailand (it’s not a connection so you are not allowed to leave a plane) just two days before departure without any notice.
Airports and their staff as well as air crew now look different but are well equipped and instructed. A portion of bureaucracy was also added into each leg of my journey – I have filled out a lot of documents about my health conditions and travel plans.
Emirates provided us with a welcome kit that contained sanitisers, masks and gloves which was really helpful. A huge Boeing brought only about 60 people to Auckland. People could sit together with a person from their bubble. Otherwise we had two spare seats between each other which was amazing as it helped to stretch my legs across the seats!
We were also not allowed to have walks between rows, as airlines tend to minimise any interactions between people.
When we landed in Auckland, the pilot informed us about our isolation place (Hamilton). We were taken there by bus and I was sitting in my room only two and a half hours later. The hotel territory was surrounded by a fence; there were cars of the NZ Police, the NZ Army, the Aviation Security team and nurses. It felt, honestly, like I was a part of a criminal movie!
We were clearly instructed by a captain of the NZ Army about our isolation conditions (he was begging “Please do not leave this place!”) and then were allowed to leave the bus to proceed through aviation security and health checks.
Each morning I had to complete my health check answering different questions, including questions about my mental health. The nurses highly recommended we stay in touch with our families and go out for walks - we were allowed to leave our rooms at a certain time (from 9:30am to 4:00pm) and have walks around the special territory surrounded by the fence and observed by security. Below is a photo of my room view which was not too bad.
Meals were provided by a restaurant and there always was a choice between meat and vegetarian options. The food was delicious and the size of the meals was pretty impressive. A morning tea cake and afternoon tea treat were also provided.
A restaurant menu with a choice of extra meals and alcohol was available for us – of course, for an additional charge. Online orders from supermarkets could be placed. Families were allowed to send parcels with belongings – but not with food or anything sharp like knives or scissors.
Everyone was truly lovely and supportive. We had everything that we needed to complete our two weeks’ isolation. I know people have different experiences but mine was pretty good.
