PHOTO ESSAY
Self-quarantine life at NTTIH
In late 2019, the first patient infected with novel coronavirus pneumonia was found in Wuhan City, China.
Since then, the outbreak has spread across mainland China and now to the rest of the world.
Under the threat of the coronavirus disease, all people returning Hong Kong from the mainland are required to undergo self-isolation for 14 days upon their arrival, in accordance with the guidelines from the Department of Health.
At Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), non-local student residents requiring self-isolation will be arranged to live in Dr. Ng Tor Tai International House (NTTIH), which is the school hotel of HKBU.
It provides accommodation facilities to the guests of HKBU as well as some non-local students.
Hao Yingshan is a sophomore majoring in journalism at HKBU. She comes from Xi 'an, China. During the 2020 Chinese New Year Festival, despite the severe outbreak, she, like many other mainland students, still chose to return to hometown to celebrate the New Year with family. Since she was originally a resident of NTTIH, after returning to Hong Kong on February 5, 2020, she was arranged to self-isolate in her original room.
Gloria Zhou spent several days with her photographing what her self-quarantine life is like at NTTIH.
Hao Yingshan stands at the entrance of NTTIH on February 14, 2020.
During the outbreak, signs outside the hotel changes from "Welcome home!" to
"May NTT residents please make a stop for a temperature check. " Photos: Gloria Zhou
NTTIH locates on Renfrew Road, Kowloon Tong.
The hotel is adjacent to the Academic and Administration Building (AAB) of HKBU.
In this February 13 photo, Hao Yingshan is making her bed in her double room.
Her roommate did not return to NTTIH after returning to the mainland for the Chinese New Year. Because then she had to move to a new room to isolate herself, which she finds troublesome.
Hao Yingshan is putting on lipstick at her desk.
Because of wearing mask every day, she hasn't worn makeup for a long time.
However, she likes to put on lipstick to make herself look better when staying in the room.
Hao Yingshan is washing clothes by hand in the bathroom.
There is a public laundry on the fifth floor of the hotel,
but most residents now do their own laundry for fear of cross-infection.
The exhaust fan button in the bathroom is labeled "Do Not Switch Off the Ventilation Fan.”
This is to keep the room ventilated.
In addition, preventive measures conducted by housekeepers include daily pouring water into drain outlets of the bathrooms, and frequently disinfect dust-filters of air-conditioners.
Hao Yingshan is having an online class in her room.
To prevent further spread of the disease, the university has suspended all on-campus face-to-face classes until further notice and classes have been delivered online.
These are the things Hao Yingshan "treasures" at the moment — face masks.
She lined up for a long time and spent a lot of money to buy them.
Now, the NTTIH also distributes masks to each resident on a 10-day cycle, which is reassuring.
The blue masks in the bottom right corner of the photo are the masks provided by the hotel.
Hao Yingshan is having a temperature check at the main lobby of NTTIH on February 14.
Lei Bou-jan (right), the hotel security, says that as of now, no one has been detected with fever.
After coming back from the outside, Hao Yingshan is disinfecting her hands with alcohol-based hand-rub. These hand sanitizers are provided at the lift lobby of every floor in the hotel.
Lei Bou-jan is cleaning the elevator buttons with alcohol on February 15.
She says that according to hotel regulations, all elevator buttons are disinfected every 2 hours.
Hao Yingshan is ordering at Bistro Bon on February 14,
which is the house restaurant on the ground floor of NTTIH.
Ching Lok-man (left), says that business at Bistro Bon is not affected as much as it is at other restaurants during the outbreak. Because lots of people living in NTTIH come here to eat.
On February 14, Hao Yingshan is preparing to heat the sandwich in the hotel common room.
The public refrigerator in the hotel common room is crammed with food from the residents.
During the outbreak, people are reluctant to eat out but prefer to stock up on fast food and heat before eating. As a result, the formerly empty communal refrigerator becomes crowded.
On February 13, Hao Yingshan is climbing the stairs in the hotel stairwell with her mask on. Staying in the room every day makes her extremely lack of exercise,
so she climbs the stairs every day to increase some exercise and maintain good health.
