This post is part of a spontaneous interview series I’m throwing together this weekend. The goal is to share personal accounts from people doing compulsory home quarantine in Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic.

Welcome home, Michelle! Where did you fly back from? I’m coming back from Los Angeles but I live in San Diego so I only drove up to LA for the airport. I work at a psychiatric clinic as a TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) technician. I came back 5:20am of March 19, right after they passed the mandate that all arrivals have to be quarantined for 14 days. I was already expecting to do that because California was placed as Level 3 and required to be quarantined anyway.

How was the flight? I actually was really impressed! They had everyone fill out the health form, and managed to work pretty fast even though lines were super long. They took my temperature, and I reported a slight cough so they walked us through a separate immigration line and took me to get swabbed for the test. Everyone was in line for the quarantine taxis.

Did you get pressure from your family to fly back? Yes! Ultimately it was up to me but my mom did want me to come back really bad.

What made you finally decide to do it? Cases in San Diego were getting worse and my work and school both went online and let me leave, so I figured it’d be better to come here with better healthcare.

What has quarantine been like so far? The second I stepped home the district office called to tell me they’d be tracking my cell signal and calling every day, asking if I have a fever etc. They told me the police are also helping monitor my cell signal. I live with my mom so mostly it’s been really funny documenting how cautious she is. I sneezed and she rushed into my room and starting spraying everything with alcohol spray. The district office also sent me a quarantine care package.

Is your mom doing quarantine with you? She lives here so she didn’t travel with me. She’s not under mandatory quarantine but it’s still advised that she be careful as well. So she’s keeping her distance from me and also not going out as much. She’s canceling her gatherings and appointments as well. My poor mom. Bless her for doing that!

So what are you doing at home? I’m hanging with my mom, I’m still doing work remotely and also homework from my classes that are now online. I have some supplies to bake and I’m doing home workouts. Mostly I’m trying to stay away from my mom!

Thanks Michelle! Follow her @michelleyplee on Instagram to see more of her quarantine experience.

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