A couple stuck in hotel quarantine beyond the expected 14-day requirement say they understand why the system has been put in place but they would at least like some fresh air and empathy after being stuck in a room with no balcony.
Geoff and Karen Crooks are having to remain in hotel quarantine for a further two weeks after the extremely contagious UK strain of coronavirus spread at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Brisbane.
“We’re not going to survive in this room for another 14 days,” Mr Crooks told A Current Affair host Leila McKinnon.
Mr Crooks was unable to attend his brother’s funeral due to the quarantine directive and said it hasn’t been easy due to the lack of help and him waiting all day to see a nurse.
“Understand what issues we’re having,” he said.
Mrs Crooks said the news they would have to remain in quarantine for an extra two weeks was broken to them by police just over an hour before they were scheduled to leave, which wasn’t easy to hear.
But their issue is not with hotel quarantine, they just want it to be more comfortable.
“I doubt very much whether the premier of Queensland has even talked to anybody who’s gone through quarantine and understands just the circumstances you’ve got to stay in. This room is 10 paces across,” Mr Crooks said.
Mr Cooks has now been tested five times, with all tests coming back as negative, including a pre-travel test which was done in the US and a test he requested because of sinus issues while in quarantine.
He said he was surprised more wasn’t done earlier as the severity of the UK strain has been known for quite a while.
“It was three levels above us, six days before that we knew about it,” Mr Crooks said.
While the couple knows they won’t be let out soon, and they don’t expect to be, they do want others to know that they aren’t sitting by the pool drinking cocktails.
“We were prepared to do quarantine, we knew all about it, we’ve done our homework, that’s part of the system. (But) it’s about doing it again (and) making sure the facility was better than the last time, have some compassion,” Mr Crooks said.
He said their new room is smaller than their first and now had no balcony.
He would like Ms Palaszczuk to give people a call and talk to them to understand the issues with the rooms, which he said were designed for a one-to-two night stay, not for two or four weeks of quarantine.
Mrs Crooks said it was lucky she and her husband get on, but she feels for those doing it on their own.
The couple said an online quarantine community has helped during their stay.
“We would just like to say thank you to all those guys supporting us because there’s a heap of people in our position,” Mr Crooks said.
This article originally appeared on Over60.