Shanghai Hotel Quarantine Diary: Day 0, Hotel Check-in
When the bus pulled into the hotel, it seemed like there was a “normal” lobby, while we were shepherded through another entrance that looked like almost a construction zone. We were told to put our suitcases to one side and take a seat.
At this point, one person from our group got really agitated, probably because he was losing patience with the process, and told the staff to hurry up, that we didn’t need to sit.
Well, it was a good idea to sit, because there were a lot of paperwork to fill out, forms to sign. And in the picture above, you can see there were buckets to distribute.
I was already warned about “the buckets” from my WeChat groups. You can see in the diagram to the left, you’re supposed to dissolve these chlorine tablets in the buckets, then pour the chlorine solution into the toilet after you’ve gone, wait 30 minutes for the disinfecting magic to happen, and then flush.
When you do #1, you fill 1L of water, and #2, 2L. And add in 6 and 12 chlorine tablets respectively.
Just like in the airport, all staff here were in hazmat suits with eye protection and facial masks.
I also had to pay 120 RMB for a COVID test before leaving hotel quarantine.
Then we were directed to the elevators. They only allowed one person in the elevator at a time. And you can see the elevators are extremely torn up - I think because of the disinfecting spray they must use repeatedly?
Funny that this sign about the breakfast buffet is still up. Kind of a sad reminder of simpler times.
The room itself is not bad. It’s well-lit, and WARM. After hours waiting in the cold, and then a long time with the check-in process in another unheated space, it was a relief to enter a space that had heat! I like that there’s a real table for eating and working and a real chair. I’ve seen a YouTube video of another quarantine hotel where they had to eat their meals in bed because there was no table. The room does look like it’s maybe missing a sitting/lounge type chair, which they might have removed in order to not damage it.
You’ll also notice that the floor is covered in this haphazardly fashioned white tarp. I guess it’s to protect the carpet from being torn up like the other parts of this hotel, after the constant disinfection. But I guess it must be disinfected but still not “clean,” because dirt really shows up well on the white.
I don’t mind the tarp, I guess I wish it looked a little more deliberately cut and placed?
The bathroom is nice and functional. Hot water comes on right away, and water pressure is good.
Quite a few water bottles. But not sure if this is to last 2 weeks? I suppose we’ll have to buy more ourselves once we run out.
Back to the bucket! Besides the bucket itself, inside there were the two bottles of chlorine tablets, a bottle of antibacterial hand soap, a bottle of alcohol cotton swabs, and a mercury thermometer. I brought my own instant-read forehead thermometer, though.
This is what the chlorine tablets look like.
In water, they fizz up like alka seltzer tablets. In one of my WeChat groups, one person was confused about these buckets: she though that you were supposed to go to the toilet IN the bucket. I can understand the confusion, because she and her husband were given 2 buckets, even though they were staying in the same room. So she thought that they each had their personal toilet I guess. Someone in my bus group, the one who was complaining loudly, actually asked the staff if we were to go to the toilet in the bucket too. So it can be confusing!
I’m also pretty high up, so have a view of Xujiahui and can see the sky. This is something else I’m quite thankful for. I’ve also seen pictures of people’s rooms where they look into an interior courtyard or airshaft. Having natural light and seeing the sky will be so nice, when cooped up in one room for two weeks!
