Covid-19: Dubai returnee shares his experience

It all started with 85 cases of Covid-19 patients and with one death case in Dubai.  A former Ugandan employee in Dubai who was working as a waiter in a restaurant, Christopher Bryaruhanga (not real names), narrates his experience of being in quarantine. 

Before Christopher came back to Uganda, when the cases rose to 85 in Dubai, the government started exerting stringent measures to contain the spread of the virus.

“First, all businesses in the hospitality industry were stopped especially hotels and restaurants to curb many people converging in the same places. They were restricted to only do deliveries of food to people’s door steps,” he says.

Next were all the social and amusement parks then shops and malls.  Some continued working but the days were reduced to 15 days for people to work and 15 days to stay home to reduce the numbers of people turning up for work in the city centres. People went into a panic and started buying air tickets to fly back to Uganda.

Some companies started issuing redundancy letters which are valid for two months. The letters are given to them to be in position to look for other short term opportunities for the time being before the situation goes back to normal. Christopher says when the situation goes back to normal the employees are free to go back to their former jobs.

For those whose redundancy letters are yet to expire and their companies still have contracts to operate, they still have their jobs. If one has a contract with a company though and the company’s contract expires, they have the privilege to get retirement and end of year service fringe benefits.

These are benefits given to employees when a company’s contract comes to an end and send off some of its employees.  But, if the company contract expires and one still has a redundancy letter they do not stand chance to have any entitlements.

As of now, Dubai is in total lock down and movement of people is restricted to an extent that people who want to walk are issued walking permits. To get one, you have to apply electronically to the police with a genuine reason.

Christopher’s company gave them a three-month break from their jobs till the situation gets back to normal.  Since people were stopped from going to restaurants, he had no work to do; only those in the kitchen and delivery service sections still had something to do.

“For employees in other departments, the hotel decided we go for a break back to our home countries and return when work resumes. The company paid for our flight return tickets,” Christopher says.

Anxiety to people around him

Upon arriving at Entebbe airport on March 21, their temperatures were checked. His was normal and he had no symptoms of Covid-19 so he got a taxi to his home in Bukoto, a Kampala suburb.

But days after, he got in touch with the Ministry of Health as a returnee from Dubai. He called the Ministry himself and gave them his contacts because the first detected Covid-19 patient in Uganda had returned from Dubai and all returnees from there were considered high risk suspect patients.

“Before I knew it, on the third day, rumours had already circulated, that I am from Dubai. Neighbours started pointing fingers at me. ‘Christopher was in Dubai, he was in Dubai let him report to the ministry to be checked,’ I heard some of them whisper but I ignored them.”

His family members also became uncomfortable after receiving news from media that returnees from Dubai must be checked to see if they are Covid-19 free.

“My family boldly told me to go and have myself checked to ensure I don’t infect them and if I was sick, to get treatment. They were afraid that I might be sick,” he says.

On the fourth day, the chairman of the area and the local defence patrol came to his house as they had been told Christopher was a returnee from Dubai. He did not resist being taken. For the safety of everyone, Christopher says he willingly left for Mulago National Referral Hospital where many were told to converge by the Ministry of Health.

Upon reaching Mulago, it was chaos; they were more than 150 people with some of them from other countries after the Ministry of Health’s plea that they turn up at the hospital for testing.

“Much as it was a matter of safety and saving life to avoid the spread of Covid-19, at the hospital it was really a centre of exposure as guidelines such as social distancing were not observed at all and this caused fear among us,” he narrates.

There were so many people and it was hard to identify who could have been sick. 

“Deep inside, I started praying that I leave this place when I am safe. Everyone feared the other. Not long after a person with Covid-19 signs started coughing so hard and sneezing and when they checked his temperature, it was 40 degrees. The man collapsed because his legs could not support him anymore as he was becoming too weak. At this moment everyone scattered as though we were attacked by a swarm of red ants; no one could go to his rescue. This created more fear as he had interacted with the others. The medical personnel eventually came to his rescue.  We found out, days later, that the man indeed had Covid-19,” Christopher narrates.

 At 6.30pm, a medical officer broke their hearts even more.

“He said, ‘We do not have testing kits for all of you people.’ This was a blow for people who came casually knowing they would be tested and would go back home that very day,” Christopher says.

Life in the quarantine

Later, the ministry of health officials informed them that they were going for mandatory institutional quarantine as they could not let them go back home to mix with the community until they knew their Covid-19 status.

Those who had an opportunity called their family members to bring them basic stuff such as extra clothes and bed sheets, but it was approaching 7pm.  A van was brought and they were driven in shifts up to Douglas Villa Hostel in Makerere Kikoni for quarantine.

“At the hostel, we were given a choice to pick rooms to sleep in; those who were lucky occupied rooms with beddings while others had to wait the next day for their families to bring the necessities. However, they were not allowed to see them. You were only called by the security guards to pick your belongings,” Christopher says.

Days went by as they stayed in quarantine but they were not tested. Christopher says health officials came in to check their temperatures and monitor if they had developed any signs of Covid-19, on a daily basis.

All meals were provided to them by the government of Uganda and the daily routine was living singly in their rooms not knowing what was next, but hoping they were fine and would be able to leave the place they were confined in, soon.

Christopher was eventually tested on the 13th day of his stay at the hostel. The ministry of health checked their temperatures, took saliva samples from their mouths as well as blood samples.  Their results returned on Thursday last week and he was negative.

“When I found out I was negative I was relieved, we had been living in fear not knowing our statuses. More so, we had mixed with the man who collapsed in front of us and he was found sick,” he narrates.

Hardships in returning home

Having spent 18 days in quarantine, Christopher says he and a team of more than 150 people were discharged. They were also issued travel documents and a letter of discharge that they had completed the quarantine period.

But there arose the problem of how to get back home.

“With a total lock down on both private and transport means to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us were stranded as to how to get back home. The only option for some of us from nearby places such as Bukoto, Mukono, and Wakiso was to bravely walk back to our homes. But for people coming from far places, these are still stranded at Douglas Villa Hostel in Kikoni,” Christopher says.

He argues that while the travel documents permitted them to use private transport means, none of them came with cars. Even if they were to call people to come and pick them up, it would be difficult for those people to leave their residential areas since they do not have stickers or clearance from the RDC to travel. This leaves those leaving quarantine with no choice but to walk, something Christopher asks the ministries involved to streamline and sort out in order for people to get back home comfortably. 

Christopher was received warmly back home by his relatives when they found out he was negative.  This was a relief to the family members. He is now staying at home as he waits his three-month break to elapse. He says if the situation goes back to normal he will travel back to Dubai to pick up from where he stopped.