• Travel Quarantines: Enduring the Mundane, One Day at a Time - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/travel/quarantine-life-travelers.html

    Travel Quarantines: Enduring the Mundane, One Day at a Time
    Running a half-marathon in your hotel room. Hearing the sea, but not seeing it. Fixating on food. Here’s how some travelers passed the time during their mandatory quarantines.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#etatsunis#sante#hotelquarantaine#circulation#frontiere#retsrictionsanitaire

  • « Ceux qui ne l’ont pas vécu ne peuvent pas comprendre » : en quarantaine à l’hôtel, des voyageurs racontent un moment « hors du temps »
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/02/21/ceux-qui-ne-l-ont-pas-vecu-ne-peuvent-pas-comprendre-en-quarantaine-a-l-hote

    Cocotiers, ciel bleu, chant des tourterelles… En septembre, Béatrice et Vincent ont vécu à quelques mètres de la mer, à l’île Maurice. « Sauf qu’un grand mur de pierre infranchissable cachait le paysage », précise Béatrice. Le couple de trentenaires a vécu deux semaines enfermé dans une chambre d’hôtel avec leur fille de 2 ans, un sort commun à de nombreux voyageurs depuis le début de la pandémie de Covid-19.Depuis bientôt un an, plusieurs pays ont imposé une quarantaine de quatorze jours à l’hôtel pour toutes les personnes arrivant de l’étranger. Le Royaume-Uni a inauguré, lundi 15 février, des mesures similaires pour celles en provenance de pays classés à risque. A partir du 22 février, les voyageurs atterrissant au Canada devront, eux, s’isoler trois jours à l’hôtel.
    L’hôtel Sofitel de l’aéroport de Heathrow, dans l’ouest de Londres, le 14 février.
    Que se passe-il dans le huis clos de ces chambres transformées en salles d’attente ? En réponse à un appel à témoignages, les internautes ont raconté au Monde un moment « hors du temps ». Tous préviennent : « Si vous pouvez éviter une quarantaine à l’hôtel, faites-le. » Le prix d’un tel séjour allant de 1 500 à 2 500 euros par personne, les témoignages évoquent majoritairement des impératifs personnels ou professionnels.
    Confiné seul dans son logement de 15 m2 à Toulouse, Tom, étudiant franco-australien de 21 ans, voulait rejoindre sa famille à Sydney en avril. Après un été passé auprès de son père malade, Delphine rentrait chez elle à Singapour, fin août. Au même moment, Anne-Hélène, nommée professeure de philosophie au lycée français de Bangkok, s’installait en Thaïlande. Repoussant depuis de longs mois leur déménagement à l’île Maurice, Béatrice et Vincent, eux, ont pris en septembre le dernier vol de rapatriement, qui était assorti d’une quarantaine financée par l’Etat.
    A peine le pied posé sur le sol de leur pays d’accueil, tous se souviennent avoir été pris pour des « parias ». « On avait l’impression d’être des virus ambulants », raconte Béatrice, accueillie à l’aéroport par des personnels en tenue de protection intégrale, avant d’être conduite en car à l’hôtel.
    Un voyageur assis à une fenêtre de l’hôtel Radisson Blu, à l’aéroport de Heathrow, dans l’ouest de Londres, le 17 février.Si les règles de la quarantaine varient selon les pays, elles partagent la même rudesse. En Australie, Tom n’a jamais pu ouvrir sa fenêtre pour respirer l’air extérieur pendant ses quatorze jours d’isolement.
    Pour vivre au mieux cette privation de liberté, Delphine s’est longuement
    Débute ensuite « le temps subi ». « Celui des rendez-vous imposés qui rythment la journée », raconte Delphine. « On se sent un peu comme dans un zoo : des animaux qui attendent les heures de repas », décrit Béatrice. A l’île Maurice comme ailleurs, les pensionnaires ont interdiction de croiser les personnes en combinaison servant la nourriture. Même s’ils séjournent dans des hôtels multi-étoilés, tous décrivent des menus rudimentaires, similaires aux plateaux-repas industriels servis dans les avions. « Du riz, du riz et encore du riz », du petit déjeuner au dîner pour Delphine, à Singapour. (...)Tous évoquent l’importance des « petits plaisirs » : musique, sport, bains, films… « Hormis le jour et la nuit, il n’y a pas grand-chose qui vous raccroche au réel, donc il faut se recréer un monde agréable », abonde Anne-Hélène,Les séances de peinture, de dessin, de danse organisées pour occuper leur fille ont aidé Béatrice et Vincent à tenir. Pour d’autres, le travail a été salvateur. Anne-Hélène a préparé sa rentrée. Tom, étudiant en ingénierie aéronautique, suivait ses cours à distance avec la France, de 18 heures à 3 heures, en raison du décalage horaire. L’étudiant, habitué aux petits espaces, reconnaît avoir vécu « comme des vacances » ce séjour dans une suite immense du Sofitel de Sydney, avec baignoire, lit « king size » et un salon séparé. (...) Beaucoup décrivent ce que Delphine appelle le « blues du 6e jour ». « Quand vous n’êtes pas tout à fait à la fin de la première semaine, le temps qu’il reste semble long », rapporte-t-elle. Le lendemain, en guise d’encouragement, tous les résidents de son hôtel singapourien ont reçu un gâteau pour les féliciter du chemin parcouru. « Singapour a un côté militaire et infantilisant », souligne la magistrate, qui est finalement « rentrée dans le jeu ». « C’est stupide, mais j’étais fière de recevoir ce gâteau, je l’ai pris en photo pour l’envoyer à mes amis », poursuit-elle.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#hotelquarantaine#depistage#frontiere#circulation#santementale

  • Has anyone bothered to think about the staff working at quarantine hotels? | The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/quarantine-hotels-covid-red-list-migrant-workers-b1802864.html

    The government’s quarantine scheme requires 11 days of hotel isolation for travelers entering the UK from a “red list” of countries. But the entire initiative risks being undermined by policies which make it impossible for workers in the hotel industry to protect themselves from the spread of infection.We need to confront the possibility of the virus spreading between guests and staff, who must be able to take time off work to isolate if there is a risk they could have come into contact with an infected person. However, a low rate of statutory sick pay, alongside restrictions, especially for migrant workers, on access to financial support, means isolating from work can lead to destitution for many people in these jobs.
    The government needs to raise statutory sick pay from £95 per week, one of the lowest in Europe and utterly insufficient to support a family for 10 days or more of isolation. It also needs to scrap No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), which keeps migrant workers in poverty, and expand access to its one-off isolation payments of £500. Without these measures, workers in these hotels will face the impossible choice between isolating to protect their health and feeding their families. The hospitality sector in the UK has the highest proportion of migrant workers, making up 30 per cent of the workforce. Most migrants living and working in the UK are automatically subject to NRPF, leaving them unable to access the public safety net, including universal credit, child benefit, income support or housing benefit, regardless of their financial circumstances.
    Red list countries: Full list of 33 nations where hotel quarantine rules apply ‘I guess this means it is okay for me to be violated’ – migrant women have been forgotten in the domestic abuse bill. Long before the pandemic, NRPF conditions were causing severe financial hardship for migrants. For migrant workers in the hospitality sector, an industry hit particularly hard by the pandemic, job losses combined with NRPF conditions have meant they are unable to say “no” to high-risk working conditions and low pay. Throughout this pandemic, we have seen how frontline workers, often in low-paid work, have kept our country going. Yet these are the workers who are consistently undervalued by the government and by employers, despite the fact they have kept our shops open, our transports systems running and our shared spaces clean. The new mandatory hotel quarantine scheme is no exception. The responsibility for lowering Covid-19 transmission across our borders has fallen to low-paid hotel workers, security staff and cleaners. It is them ensuring that the scheme runs smoothly and safely. Low rates of sick pay and a reliance on the statutory minimum wage is prevalent in hospitality contracts, and even more so in cleaning and security contracts, which are often outsourced to agencies, and where insecure and zero-hours contracts are common.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#grandebretagne#sante#hotelquarantaine#travailleurmigrant#travailleurpremiereligne#frontiere#economie

  • UK quarantine hotels ’a death sentence’ for at-risk Britons, says cancer patient | Coronavirus | The Guardian
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/17/uk-quarantine-hotels-a-death-sentence-for-at-risk-britons-says-cancer-p
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/22f464e88808b46911552e26c2dbc0542b05f547/0_469_998_599/master/998.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-alig

    Thomas, 68, is undergoing treatment for stage four incurable cancer, so had been shielding since the start of the pandemic. He flew out to the Portuguese archipelago for a family holiday in December, but said he has been advised by his GP and oncologist that it would be dangerous for him to return and stay in a quarantine hotel for 10 days, leaving him effectively stranded.As of Monday, Madeira has been listed on the government’s red list of locations from which arrivals to the UK must quarantine in a hotel at their own expense. There are no exemptions for people with medical conditions.Thomas requires a special diet, access to medical supplies and support, and also fears he could contract coronavirus from another guest or member of staff, which he describes as “a death sentence for people like me”.“I’ve been in isolation since the beginning of the pandemic, but also quite a long time before because I wasn’t well enough to do much more than sit around and read books,” he said. “We came out for 10 days in December. I really, really needed a break.”
    In the 10 days he was holidaying in Madeira, coronavirus rates in the UK rose significantly. British Airways cancelled his return flight and rescheduled it for early January, Thomas said, but his GP and oncologist recommended he stay put due to the growing risk of Covid in the UK. The family moved from their hotel to a nearby apartment and began chemotherapy in Madeira. Since the replacement flight, Thomas said all others have been cancelled.
    “Madeira is indeed a part of Portugal, but it’s thousands of kilometres away in the middle of the Atlantic ocean,” said Thomas. “Moreover, the reason we came was because Madeira has very low incidences of Covid, and this remains so. But despite that, our government decided to lump it in with the mainland, which seems absurd.”While those staying in UK quarantine hotels are able to leave for medical attention, Thomas’s GP has told him she thinks it would be too dangerous for him there.“The stress isn’t particularly helpful either,” he added. “It means we’re basically banned from returning to our own country … We can hang out here for a bit, but that’s really not the point. Medium or long term, it’s not going to work. I’ve got a kid who I need to have a life.”He has been offered a coronavirus vaccine from his GP, council and hospital in his home city of London, which he is unable to access, and he cannot get one in Madeira.“I’m not saying anyone intended it to be this way, but they’ve not fully thought through these things that need to be taken into account. Surely there must be other people in a similar boat. It’s illogical. I have friends returning from LA this Thursday … and they’re going to walk through immigration and go home. It doesn’t make any logical sense.”The Department for Health was approached for comment

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#grandebretagne#sante#hotelquarantaine#portugal#madere#retour#vaccination

  • What Australia has learned from a year of Covid hotel quarantine | Australia news | The Guardian
    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/17/what-australia-has-learned-from-a-year-of-covid-hotel-quarantine
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6bcefb130e6c4252873fd429586ab02dea15a0b3/0_273_4118_2472/master/4118.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali

    Australia’s strict 14-day hotel quarantine system, and simultaneous stifling of its citizens’ ability to travel freely overseas, are widely acknowledged as a major factor in the nation’s successful containment of Covid-19, low death rate and ability to resume a semblance of pre-pandemic life. However the nation’s quarantine regime has been progressively tightened in response to instances of the virus leaking out of hotels since the mandatory order was introduced for international arrivals from all countries in March last year. After the country’s initial lockdown largely suppressed the virus and new community cases dwindled, instances of new hotel quarantine breaches were noticeable, and often had the full attention of local health authorities. Importantly, Australia’s hotel quarantine program is also supported by a politically unpopular cap on weekly quarantine spots that has left tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas.While the specifics differ slightly between various states and territories, Australia’s current hotel quarantine program has been shaped by breaches, and the key infection control lessons authorities have learned.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#australie#sante#hotelquarantaine#frontiere#circulation#retour

  • Hotel quarantine rollout in England ’an absolute joke’, says border official | World news | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/15/hotel-quarantine-rollout-in-england-an-absolute-joke-says-border-offici
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3fbd3de72fc39d8b28973da340f56c9a8adc7e0c/0_458_3450_2071/master/3450.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali

    Border staff received guidelines on how to execute England’s new “red list” quarantine rules in an email two and a half hours before they came into force in a rollout that one worker described as “an absolute joke”.
    British and Irish nationals or UK residents arriving from a list of 33 countries are now required to book a 10-day quarantine package costing £1,750 per adult, as the government seeks to limit the spread of new and potentially more dangerous coronavirus variants arriving from abroad.Border Force sources told the Guardian that all immigration control staff had received a lengthy email with five attachments, detailing official guidance for carrying out the new checks at the border, at 9.25pm on Sunday. The rules came into effect at midnight.Significant numbers of staff would not have seen the email when they started their shifts on Monday, the sources said. One Border Force operative on duty at Heathrow airport during the first day of the checks described the process as “an absolute joke”. The Home Office has been approached for comment.
    Arrivals who have been in a red-list country in the last 10 days queue in a separate lane from other travellers at one of five airports. The significant majority on Monday arrived at Heathrow.Immigration control staff must check each traveller’s completed passenger locator form, hotel quarantine booking, a confirmed negative Covid test and evidence of two additional test bookings for while they are in quarantine

    #Covid-1ç#migrant#migration#grandebretagne#sante#frontiere#quarantaine#depistage#hotelquarantaine#variant

  • Seventy per cent of Australians think border should stay shut until global Covid crisis has passed – poll | Essential poll | The Guardian
    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/seventy-per-cent-of-australians-think-border-should-stay-shut-until-glo
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bc96de42d81055907c050111aebf6bccdbb0d2cf/0_44_3497_2099/master/3497.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali

    A significant majority of Australians think the Morrison government should keep the border closed until after the pandemic is under control globally, and most voters think Canberra should be responsible for managing quarantine for returning travellers, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.The latest survey of 1,109 respondents suggests voters have adopted a fortress Australia disposition as concerns are heightened about more virulent variants of Covid.
    Some 71% of the survey think the border needs to remain shut until the public health crisis has passed and 62% agree with the statement: “It should be the federal government’s responsibility to protect Australia’s international borders and manage the hotel quarantine system.”The sentiment follows the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, flagging last week the need for a “cold, hard discussion” about whether Australia should reduce international arrivals further, given the increased rate of transmission associated with new variants and the impending vaccination program in Australia.Andrews on Monday declared the only way to eliminate the risk of cases spreading from hotel quarantine into the community was to reduce the number of international arrivals to zero.But the premier said it was possible the current risks could be better managed if quarantine occurred in purpose-built facilities – a concept the Morrison government has pushed back against.While a majority of survey respondents want to isolate the country right now, the instinct is situational. Some 67% of the sample say the border should be reopened “slowly and safely” after the Covid vaccines have been rolled out to the public.This fortnight’s survey indicates Australians are fatigued with the crisis, with more than 70% of respondents saying they want life to return to how it was before the pandemic, and 43% of the sample agreeing with the statement: “I don’t think I could stand another lockdown.”

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#australie#sante#frontiere#isolement#insularite#zerocovid#hotelquarantaine

  • UK Covid live: visitors from ’red list’ countries will have to pay £1,750 for hotel quarantine, Hancock says | Politics | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/feb/09/uk-covid-live-matt-hancock-coronavirus-latest-updates
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2a6d125cd22c274556b9ff4495cf377715f1d3c0/0_232_3500_2101/master/3500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali

    In the Commons Huw Merriman (Con) asks how long these restrictions will last. In response, Matt Hancock says he wants to be able to exit from these arrangements as soon as it is practical and as soon as it is safe.But he does not say when this is likely to be. And he points out that, at last night’s No 10 press conference, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said the government would need to know the vaccines were effective against all variants of the virus before a full easing of restrictions. Hancock said this was still a matter of uncertainty.
    Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, told MPs that the government’s plans did not go far enough because half the countries where the South African variant has been identified are not included on the “red list”. He said: Our first line of defence is surely to do everything we can to stop [new variant] arising in the first place. That means securing our borders to isolate new variants as they come in. He’s announced a detailed package today but he hasn’t announced comprehensive quarantine controls at the borders.
    So why then when over half of the countries where the South Africa variant has been identified - why are over half of them not on the so-called red list?
    And indeed according to newspaper reports he wanted to go further with more extensive quarantine arrangements. I want that as well, the British public want that as well, so I will work with him to make that happen so we can strengthen our borders and fix any holes in this nation’s defences.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#grandebretagne#sante#frontiere#restrictionsanitaire#variant#hotelquarantaine

  • Premiers doutes au Royaume-Uni concernant le vaccin AstraZeneca
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/02/09/premiers-doutes-au-royaume-uni-concernant-le-vaccin-astrazeneca_6069299_3244

    Seuls 147 cas de variant sud-africain ont pour l’heure été identifiés au Royaume-Uni, et Jonathan Van-Tam, le très pédagogue conseiller médical adjoint du gouvernement, a longuement insisté, lundi : « Rien n’indique qu’il va prendre le pas sur le variant du Kent. » Mais la campagne de tests et d’isolement systématiques des populations concernées ne fait que commencer dans certaines zones (à Bristol, par exemple, dans le sud-ouest du pays). Et les restrictions dures aux frontières pour les voyageurs venant des pays les plus à risque de variants ne sont toujours pas en place : les « hôtels à quarantaine » sur le modèle néo-zélandais ou australien ne seront opérationnels qu’à partir du 15 février. D’ici là, « jusqu’à 205 000 personnes venant de zones à risque pourront encore arriver », affirme le Daily Telegraph.
    Enfin, le gouvernement Johnson s’inquiète de la « résistance » au vaccin qui pourrait augmenter à mesure que le doute sur son efficacité s’installe. Le scepticisme vaccinal est faible dans le pays, sauf chez les populations britanniques d’origine africaine, caribéenne ou asiatiques (« BAME »), selon les témoignages de multiples médecins sur le terrain. Une étude du Royal College of General Practitioners, publiée le 7 février, souligne que les Britanniques blancs sont deux fois plus susceptibles de s’être fait vacciner que les Noirs.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#grandebretagne#sante#vaccination#minorite #BAME#inegalite#race#variant#hotelquarantaine#frontiere#restrictionsanitaire