‘It is a kind of prison’: Brazilian man says hotel quarantine is ‘harsh but necessary’

Lucas Bogucheski heard about three people absconding from his quarantine hotel at Dublin Airport over the weekend when his mother in Brazil texted him.

“What the hell is going on in your hotel?” she asked her 26-year-old Brazilian son.

Mr Bogucheski flew into Dublin on Friday to take up a new job as an engineer with an Irish company, which he has been working for remotely since October.

The idea of leaving the hotel before his 12-day quarantine ends on April 7th is not worth it, in his mind.

Covid-19 mandatory hotel quarantine: who is in charge of policing it?

---

How much value do innovative medicines generate for the economy?

---

Coveney urges Beacon Hospital board to ‘ensure accountability’

---

Q&A: How do walk-in Covid-19 testing centres work?

---

“I wouldn’t do it because the fine is very expensive and I don’t want to go to jail,” he says.

Still, he thinks that the mandatory quarantine feels like being in jail. “It is a kind of prison because when I leave the room here to take fresh air, I will be monitored by someone,” he says.

He is permitted to book to go outside for fresh air three times a day, but under supervision, if his Covid-19 swab from Saturday tests negative .

The engineer was among the first to check into mandatory hotel quarantine at the Crowne Plaza after flying in from Paris on Friday, transferring from a flight from his native São Paulo.

He understands the importance of protecting the public from the virus. “It is harsh but it is necessary,” he says.

Expensive

However, he thinks 12 days is too long; he believes that people should be released from quarantine earlier if they test negative after day five. He believes the cost at €1,875 per person is too expensive when he priced another hotel outside quarantine at €500 for the same length of time.

He said all the State officials greeting him were “very easygoing” and helpful. He is complimentary about the hotel and the staff.

Three meals are brought to his room a day; dinner is the only one he has a choice in ordering. He can order beer to his door. He must clean the room himself and put his rubbish outside.

Bogucheski said he will be busy in quarantine: he works from 7am to 5pm every day and also teaches English. He is planning to use the time to read The Lord of the Rings, the JRR Tolkien epic.

“I am kind of working out my mind, trying to be resilient,” he said.