It seemed like a normal day for her. It was 6.30 in the morning – the dishes were still in the sink from the day before, and she was still sleeping when she suddenly got a phone call from her family in Vietnam that was going to turn everything upside-down.
“On March 14, my mum actually called me in the morning and she told me that I have to pack my bags right now and go to the airport”, said Tue, trying to recall the day.
Tue Minh Bui, 19, is a second year Linguistics and Media student at Nottingham Trent University. For her, the coronavirus lockdown affected her in a way she could never have imagined.
When the coronavirus pandemic reached the UK, Tue decided that she was going to remain and continue her studies.
“I didn’t plan to go home,” she said. “I decided to stay in the UK to carry on my studies, I didn’t want any interruptions if there was a lockdown, and I didn’t know if I could come back to the UK to finish my exams.”
Her decision to remain in the UK despite the pandemic was short lived, and the call she got from her family in Vietnam was going to change everything.
Tue said: “Obviously, I was very overwhelmed with a lot of emotions – I had a panic attack.
“I was crying, I was panicking, but I had to calm myself down because I wouldn’t have made it to the airport if I was crying.
“I just packed my bag in ten minutes, obviously I left a lot of stuff behind. I ran out of the door and found the nearest taxi possible.”
And then it was just her fighting against time.
“It actually takes two to three hours to get to the terminal and go through the airport. At the time it was 7.30 and my flight was at 11.
“In my mind I was just thinking there is no way I’m going to make it…”
It seemed like everything was falling down for Tue. She turned up to the airport 15 minutes late, but she just was not ready to give up.
“I still ran to the checking desk and I asked for information about the flight.
“And they actually told me that they delayed the flight for an hour, which it never happened before – so I was very very lucky, and I got on the plane.”
But this is far from the end of the Vietnamese girl’s journey. When she finally arrived at the airport, all the passengers had to be transferred to a quarantine facility and stay there for 14 days.
Tue has spent two weeks at the military base, which was at 2000km away from Hanoi. (Photo credit: Tue Minh Bui)
“The morning when I arrived in Vietnam, the Vietnamese government changed their health policy.
“So when I arrived, I had to fill in a form, a declaration. And after that I had to wait in the airport for ten hours just to get my passport stamped.
“They were calling our names one by one and there were four flights at that time – so there were around 1,000 passengers.
Tue and the other passengers got on the bus with no idea what the next destination was going to be. Surrounded by strangers, everything was moving faster than she could anticipate.
“After 20 minutes on the bus, I could see this big gate of the military base of Vietnam.”
After all the luggage was sanitized, the passengers were asked to fill in forms with their names, phone numbers and other information so they could confirm their identity.
The military base was 2000km away from Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam and Tue’s hometown.
“My parents were very worried, but at that time I didn’t know more than they did because I’m just there, waiting for my name to be called – I didn’t know what was going to happen after”, said Tue.
“And to be honest, they were worried, but they weren’t that worried because I was finally home and not stuck in the UK.”
All the passengers that arrived at the military base went through a medical check-up to detect any coronavirus symptoms. During their time in quarantine, everyone was checked twice a day by the medical staff.
“The second that anyone has a fever or a soar throat, they were taken to the hospital right away”, said Tue.
“We took a test when we arrived at the facility, and then another one when we left.”
Looking back, Tue realises that she was at high risk to get the virus and says she was “lucky”.
“To my knowledge, there were a few people on my flight who were infected.
“There was actually a lady who was sat three rows away from me that was infected and because I was sleeping on the plane the whole time, I didn’t know that she was coughing, and she had to go to the bathroom to cough.
“And I didn’t know that because I was sleeping so I ended up using the same bathroom. So I was at high risk.”
Even knowing that she is now in a safe environment, the possibility of catching the virus was a constant fear for Tue. With every day passing by, another person was tested positive, leaving her with more uncertainty and dread for what the next day was going to reveal.
“In the quarantine facility, if anyone is tested positive, an ambulance would come right away and take them to the hospital.
“So when I was in quarantine, that is one thing that made me very worried. It’s just that constant fear that people could come anytime to pick you up to the hospital,” she explains.
“And it’s just not the fear of you getting it, it’s also the fear that you are potentially infecting all of these people who live in the same room as you.
“Because if you’re taken away, they’re gonna be taken away as well. So if that happened to me, I would’ve been very worried and feeling guilty for other people as well.”
But the two weeks have passed by and Tue is now at her home in Vietnam, feeling grateful for having this experience.
“Once you arrive there you find a lot of things that you don’t like – sharing a room with everyone, the facilities, and just the circumstances overall.
“But one thing we started doing from day two was that every time there was a negative thought would pop into our heads before going to sleep, we would think of three other reasons to be grateful.”
Tue then decided to make the most of this experience and make a documentary about it for her assignment.
“This experience is once in a lifetime and not a lot of people know what it is like to be in a quarantine facility.
“They would think that it’s a very unpleasant experience, but I’m doing this documentary to show people what is it like to be inside there so they can also see the positives.”
She is now home, surrounded by all the things she has missed so much during her time spent in quarantine. In the peace of her own room, she recalls the two weeks that completely changed her life perspective.
Tue said: “I wouldn’t want it to be any different than this because I understand how much other people had to sacrifice.
“Because all those beds belong to soldiers, who gave up their beds so we have a bed to sleep on and they had to sleep on the floor.
“I would say that we lacked a lot of facilities, a lot of belongings, but one thing we have never lacked was the support, the constant care and the love that everyone was giving us.”
Besides this being a “once in a lifetime experience” as she describes it, Tue created lasting friendships with people she met there.
“This experience has really opened my eyes to see every little thing in life because I’ve never seen this kind of friendship coming from strangers.
“In just two weeks we got so close. We’re joking about this, we say we bonded through misery.
“But you know when you’re in this kind of situation you really bond with people. You learn to appreciate the strengths in a community, and you learn to be appreciative of everything.”
Who would’ve imagined that Tue’s journey would’ve started within seconds of a phone call from her mum? She certainly didn’t. Back in Nottingham, the dishes are still in the sink and her clothes still lay on the floor after, reminders of that one phone call.
By Olimpia Zagnat
Featured photo credit: Tue Minh Bui