Flying home from a business trip to Europe in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Sydney scientist Professor Allison Tong had a tough decision to make when the captain announced mid-flight that arriving passengers would face 14 days in quarantine.
Should she change her plans and stop in Singapore for a while, or endure two weeks of self-isolation in Australia?
Professor Tong chose the second option and now finds herself in a western Sydney hotel room, not far from her house, but cut off from physical contact with the outside world, as Australians on the move deal with a new global reality.
"It is very strange not being able to go home after coming back to Sydney," Professor Tong said.
"I had never stayed in a hotel in my hometown, but I had some concerns about returning home because my sister was actually in the same house."
Professor Tong, the sister of ABC journalist Karen Tong, is an academic and social scientist who works at the Centre for Kidney Research at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.
She had travelled to Austria last month to conduct research at the Medical University of Vienna, and at Vienna General Hospital, taking time off to go on a team-building snowboarding trip.
When she flew home last Saturday via London on British Airways and Qantas, it was only midway through the flight that passengers were informed that new travel restrictions were in place.
"I was on the QF2 from London to Singapore when the pilot announced that 'our Prime Minister has issued a directive that all travellers from any country have to self-isolate for two weeks'," Professor Tong said.
"I was initially sad that I would not see family, friends and colleagues for another two weeks because I had already been away for three weeks, and I would also need to cancel work meetings."
With family and friends in Singapore, Professor Tong admitted that she considered "for three seconds" to have an extended stopover there, before deciding to keep flying to Sydney.
"But I was concerned about returning home because I share with my sister, and I did not want her to have to self-isolate with me," she said.
After arriving at 6:00am on Monday, Professor Tong found the automated immigration gates closed at Sydney International Airport, with customs officers informing each traveller about the mandatory 14 days of self-isolation.
"There was a large crowd and some confusion," Professor Tong said.
"I asked a customs officer about family members at home who didn't seem certain and just advised me that we needed to be in separate rooms.
"I checked the NSW Health website, which mentioned having to wear masks and avoiding shared spaces, so I decided that a hotel room was the best and safest option for now."
Professor Tong wanted to choose a hotel that was close to her office in Westmead in case staff needed to drop off materials to her, so she booked a hotel room in Parramatta.
But even making the 28-kilometre journey to Sydney's west, and getting settled in at her new digs, proved challenging.
"There was no queue at the taxi line at the airport, and the driver told me that he and his colleagues were concerned, and were required to sterilise the cab," Professor Tong said.
"At the hotel, I was apparently the first person to be in this circumstance so they didn't know what quite to do initially.
"They told me 'sorry we can't do the daily housekeeping' because of contact with the hotel staff.
"Five minutes later, they told me to call the manager if I needed any amenities or room service, and five minutes after that they gave me a face mask should I need to leave the room."
Professor Tong is paying $130 per night out of her own pocket for her room — rates have come down since a spike in COVID-19 cases in NSW — and sees herself staying there for the foreseeable future.
Working remotely on her laptop, she has been able to get some of her work done, and conceded that it was a pleasant, if lonely, existence, with her sister in their home only 10 kilometres away.
"To be honest, I know compared with others, I'm in a very fortunate and good position," Professor Tong said.
"One of the passengers on the flight back was heading back to Sydney to say goodbye to her dying mum. With the directive to self-isolate, she was very upset and worried about being unable to see her mum.
"But while it is inconvenient for me to be in quarantine, we need to minimise the burden on the health system and protect the people in the community who are vulnerable."
