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Darryl Chan tested positive for COVID-19 when he landed in Hong Kong last month. More than two weeks later — and despite never showing any symptoms — he remains isolated in a hospital bed with no sign of being allowed to leave.

"I think the worst part is not knowing when I'll be able to get out," he said.

"You're almost feeling you are back at school, with controlled wake-up and bedtime, (and) not being able to control what you can eat."

Hong Kong, along with mainland China, is one of the few places in the world still pursuing a zero-COVID policy.

READ MORE: Hong Kong bans flights from Australia, imposes other restrictions

The city's priority is reopening borders with the mainland, not the rest of the world, Hong Kong authorities have said.

That means most non-residents are banned from entering, while almost all overseas arrivals must undergo 21 days of quarantine — even if they are fully vaccinated.

Hong Kong deems travellers from the United Kingdom as a high-risk for the Omicron variant, subject to its most stringent quarantine and testing measures — which include spending the first four days at a government camp.

On December 19, Mr Chan flew to Hong Kong from London to start a new job.

Mr Chan said he was fully vaccinated with a booster shot and had tested negative for COVID-19 several times before his flight. He was mentally prepared for quarantine, but not for what happened next, he said.

On arrival in Hong Kong, Mr Chan took a mandatory COVID-19 test and waited hours at the airport. His result was determined "preliminary positive", meaning he was required to take another test. He was then moved to a cordoned-off area with a makeshift bed.

"It was definitely a bit of a shell shock," Mr Chan said.

"Having done so many tests in the week leading up to my flight, and all of them came back negative … I didn't ever think that I'll actually test positive on arrival."

Some 13 hours after his plane landed, Mr Chan was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for further testing.

He was later confirmed to have the Omicron variant, though he remained asymptomatic.

"(I had) that feeling of dread, where you sort of go, 'Oh, God, what's going to happen now?'" he said.

"I definitely felt quite trapped … you can't just say, 'I'm going to get back on a flight and go somewhere else.'

"You really are just trapped there, so that was quite a scary feeling."

It's not just travellers who face indefinite hospitalisation when they test positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong.

In recent days, Hong Kong has identified a number of Omicron cases in a cluster linked to aircrew — breaking a nearly three-month streak of no locally transmitted COVID-19 infections. Those confirmed infected have also been sent to the hospital.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people, including more than 20 restaurant staff deemed close contacts of the positive cases, have been sent to the government camp for 21 days of isolation and extensive testing.

Any positive results would mean a transfer to hospital.

Anyone who attended the same premises as the positive cases at roughly the same time in recent days has also been ordered to take a test, while several residential buildings linked to the cluster have been temporarily locked down for mass testing.

As fears of local Omicron transmission grow, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that resumption of normal travel between the city and mainland China will "have to wait for another while".

Just before the cluster emerged, Ms Lam reaffirmed Hong Kong's zero-COVID stance.

"Hong Kong has been taking very stringent measures to guard against importation of cases with a view to maintaining zero local infection," she said in a December 28 statement.

"In the face of the fierce onslaught of Omicron, we need to be even more vigilant."

Stuck in the hospital

According to Hong Kong authorities, the minimum isolation period for anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 — even if they are asymptomatic — is nearly a month.

They must stay in the hospital for at least 10 days and are not allowed to leave until they test negative twice in succession — however long it takes.

But even testing negative twice doesn't mean you can go home. After that, those under confinement orders are transferred to an isolation facility for a further 14 days.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Mr Chan was placed in an isolation ward with two other travellers who tested positive, also with Omicron.

He is confined to his room for 24 hours a day with no fresh air or outdoor exercise.

His day follows a routine set by the hospital. At 8am, he is woken by a jingle on the public address system and an announcement reminding him to take his own vitals.

He receives meals provided by the hospital at fixed times. In the meantime, he spends his day connecting with family and friends on social media and watching Netflix.

"I'd say probably early or mid-afternoon were the hardest time of the day," he said.

"In the morning, you check your emails or social media. But by the time lunch rocks around, that's when you go, 'I don't really know what I'm going to do.'"

While he said his doctors have been professional, they are unable to tell him when he can be discharged.

"It's all dependent on when I stop testing positive, and then they start the final countdown from that point," he said.

Mental toll of isolation

Since the start of the pandemic, Hong Kong has confirmed more than 12,600 cases and 213 deaths, according to government figures — far fewer than many cities of comparative size elsewhere in the world.

But while its zero-COVID approach has shielded residents from rising hospitalisations, the city has struggled with vaccine hesitancy — despite free shots being available to residents over the age of three.

To date, under 70 per cent of Hong Kong's 7.5 million population has taken two full doses.

Uptake has been particularly low among the elderly, a group considered most at risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19.

Instead, Hong Kong has relied on limiting group gatherings, mandatory masks in public, tracking, tracing, testing and confining close contacts and suspected cases — plus its tough border and quarantine measures.

In a statement on December 29, the Hong Kong government reiterated its stringent measures are here to stay — including its own large-scale quarantine facility.

"Recently, the global epidemic situation has worsened considerably due to the Omicron variant," the statement said.

"The Government has to stay vigilant to prevent a fifth wave epidemic or outbreak in the community. After reviewing the situation holistically and prudently, the Government deems it necessary to reserve all rooms at the PBQC [Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre] for meeting the quarantine purpose."

Despite the city's success in keeping COVID-19 at bay, experts say long quarantine periods often come at a cost to the mental health of those confined.

"In general, there is increased sense of isolation, anxiety, and in some severe cases, even post-traumatic stress," said Dr Elisabeth Wong, a psychiatrist and clinical adviser to Hong Kong-based mental health charity, Mind HK.

However, there are tips to maintain good mental health, she added.

"There are some tricks you can do, like making sure you schedule your day quite clearly," Dr Wong said.

"So you have rest times and work times … and, as much as you can, incorporate some kind of exercise within the day."

Rather than seeing quarantine as a punishment, she said, people going through the experience may also view it as an act of altruism.

"You're doing something good for the society," she added.

But as his indefinite isolation period grows longer, Mr Chan said he is worried about his mental health.

"I'm trying to rationalise it, I think just going through the processes knowing that there are certain things you can and can't change … the only thing that I can change is how I approach it and what I do with my time," he said.

"The best part of it, I guess, is being able to see things in a different perspective," he added.

"(I am) trying to turn it into something useful, something interesting to hopefully one day look back on and remember that time when I sat in a hospital room for X number of days."

Density restrictions are set to return to indoor venues in Victoria after the state recorded 21,997 new COVID-19 cases today, as well as a further six deaths.

The return of restrictions comes as the government has announced financial support will be available to people who test positive on a rapid antigen test, following yesterday's announcement that elective surgery has been scaled back to help the healthcare system tackle COVID-19 patients.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley has announced a density limit of one person per two square metres will return to indoor entertainment and hospitality venues in Victoria.

READ MORE: Sydney suburbs with the most COVID cases revealed

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1478848832897097729

Indoor seated cinemas and theatres, where people are seated and masked, will be exempt from the limit.

"We think this is a sensible change, particularly in the face of the continued huge growth in transmission, particularly amongst young people," Mr Foley said.

"Yesterday's formal figures, 40 per cent of those cases where people in their 20s and every indication is it's overwhelmingly from hospitality and related environments."

Mr Foley said authorities were also strongly recommending businesses and their patrons avoid indoor dancefloors and opt for seated service.

Victorians are also being advised to work and study from home where possible.

Change to way Victoria tackles COVID-19 testing

Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley said about a third of Victorians getting a PCR test were testing positive to COVID-19.

"What is clear is that we are in a new phase of this pandemic, and a new phase of how we need to respond."

Mr Foley said rapid antigen tests had to be central to the new way of responding to ease pressure on the PCR testing system.

He said at least 700,000 of the 44 million rapid antigen tests ordered by the Victorian government would be arriving in the next day or so.

He said he would be signing new pandemic orders, which will come into effect at 11.59pm, that recognise people with a rapid antigen test as a "probable case".

"Essentially they will have precisely the same obligations and the same rights as someone, whether it be for clinical support, financial support, from both the state or the Commonwealth, a whole range of other opportunities to be part of that primary healthcare response to keep them safe as they work through their infectivity.

"Essentially this new category based on the rapid antigen test will be the same in the system as if you were diagnosed through a PCR test."

READ MORE: Expert labels Queensland quarantine policy a 'contradiction'

Hospitalisations of people with COVID-19 in Victoria have risen to 631.

There are 51 people in intensive care, with 22 on ventilators.

From today, category two and three elective surgeries will be halted in public and private hospitals in the state.

Emergency surgery, however, will still go ahead.

NSW today also recorded another high case tally of more than 34,000.

Victoria recorded 17,636 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, and a further 11 deaths.

Acting Premier Jacinta Allan thanked the almost 60,000 Victorians who had been tested for COVID-19 in the past day.

"We know that these are trying and difficult times to go out and get tested," she said.

Ms Allan announced parents will be able to book in young children to get a COVID-19 vaccination from 1pm on Wednesday, both online or via the phone hotline.

"From next week, children aged five to 11 become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine," she said.

Royal Children's Hospital Chief of Medicine Associate Professor Tom Connell has said COVID-19 is not necessarily mild in children, as is commonly believed.

He urged parents to get their kids vaccinated.

"We all want what's best for our children," he said.

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