Coronavirus: Kiwi's life in quarantine at a Myanmar hospital

A Kiwi with a "badly timed flu" has found himself caught up in coronavirus quarantine in a southeast Asian hospital. 

The New Zealander living in Myanmar self-reported to hospital over the weekend after developing a high fever. It developed 12 days after travelling through Hong Kong on a work trip. 

The man, who asked not to be named, spoke to Stuff from his hospital bed in Yangon, where he has been since Monday.

His only contact has been with nurses, who check his vital signs every four hours, food deliveries, or a doctor – all entering his isolation room donning "hazmat suits" and respirator masks. 

The man arrived back in Myanmar - where he lives with his wife - on Friday, having been on a two-week work trip. 

By Saturday he was experiencing flu-like symptoms and started monitoring his fever at home. 

His temperature continued to climb and he felt "absolutely terrible", prompting him to visit a local private hospital on Monday morning.

"I was not in a good way."

Hours later he was transferred to a general public hospital, where he was "whisked away" down a dark corridor, through a door covered in plastic sheeting and sets of metal gates to an isolation room. 

Doctors ran blood tests and sent him for a chest X-ray which came back clear - but his fever didn't break. 

On Monday afternoon, "like in the Outbreak movie", men in hazmat suits bundled him into an ambulance bound for Waibargi Hospital - a specialist infectious diseases hospital - two hours away.

He sat alone in the back of the ambulance, as staff wanted to keep their distance. 

"It was all quite scary," he said. 

His room in the infectious diseases hospital is basic, fitted out with a bed and bedside table. He has a private bathroom and shower but no hot water, and the television on the wall doesn't work. 

He has an internet connection, his laptop, and 3G on his phone, so was able to work remotely and keep entertained. 

Metal grates cover the windows between him and the outside world. 

The man does not speak Burmese, so communication has been difficult and "inconsistent", he said. 

However, staff treated him "very well" and were "so nice and understanding", he said.

Staff were friendly, professional, and even went so far as to bring him KFC to his room on Tuesday night, he said. 

Tests came back negative for Covid-19, but he was not yet sure when he would be able to go home. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the New Zealand Embassy in Myanmar was providing consular assistance to a citizen hospitalised in Yangon. 

According to Covid-19 mapping by John Hopkins University, there have been no confirmed cases in Myanmar so far. 

As of Thursday, there had been three confirmed cases in New Zealand - including the first case of human-to-human transmission within New Zealand.