Junior Devin Liu has safely returned to his hometown in China, but all he has seen since his return is an airport and the inside of a hotel room.

Liu was one of several exchange students affected by the coronavirus, as he had to fly back home on April 5. Liu is from Harbin, China, which is more than 1,000 miles from Wuhan, where the virus originated. There are currently 200 cases in his hometown.

His flight was from Los Angeles to Guangzhao, China and took 17 hours.

Liu described his flight as uncomfortable  because he had to wear personal protective equipment for more than 24 hours.

Liu landed at Guangdong Airport and said he had to wait in a quarantine area where nucleic acid testing was performed. This testing detects nucleic acid sequences that have been affected by viruses and/or bacteria. Liu said, “After testing, we went through customs. And we were divided into groups and brought to different quarantine hotels. The whole process took six or seven hours after landing.”

Now Liu is quarantined in a hotel in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou. Liu said, “I have to stay in this room for 14 days and can’t go anywhere. So it’s boring every day here.” Nurses check on him every morning and afternoon, which includes another nucleic acid test along with a blood test.

After Liu finishes his 14-day quarantine in Guangzhou, he can go back home to Harbin, but then he must endure another two-week quarantine period. Since no visitation is allowed, Liu will not see his family for another month. He noted that his family was not even allowed to greet him at the airport.

Devin’s message to his Cathedral family is to “stay safe during this stressful period. And I wish they can pay attention to the spread of the virus and take good protections.”