Gavin Wheeldon is a British citizen who has been held in a Vietnamese government-run quarantine in Son Tay since March 14 after landing in Hanoi on a direct flight from London, England.

5am – I land at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport with hopes of a new life in my favourite country. I finally made it. As we leave the plane, we’re greeted with barriers and must complete health declarations. People are being swabbed and staff are wearing protective clothing. It’s all very real now. It’s no longer a headline.

Each of us must wait to be swabbed and give up our passports. Suddenly I’m grateful I filled in the online declaration and skipped the queue. I’m met with more forms, more confusion. Finally they take swab samples from my throat and nose and I’m gestured to sit in a specific area.

I look back at the slow moving queue. Westerners, Vietnamese, each of them waiting. As the hours pass, unrest grows and none of us are given information. A nearby elderly holiday group complains but it becomes increasingly evident that it’s not just us who are confused – the staff aren’t sure what to do with us. I realise that somewhere, someone is having a meeting about where to send us.
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