On Sept. 20, Umer Bin Liaquat, Class of 2023, flew into Abu Dhabi from Islamabad, Pakistan. Based on the experiences of most returning NYU Abu Dhabi students, Liaquat expected to be given a tracking wristband when suddenly he was told to wait with a group of people.

“They took us to the exit where there were buses waiting for us,” stated Liaquat. “I tried to talk to the police who were present there and they told me that this [bus] was going to government quarantine.”

Ansh Kachalia, Class of 2023, who landed at the Abu Dhabi airport from Mumbai on Sept. 21, had a similar experience. He stated, “They didn't give us any information about what it was or where they were taking us. But we kind of figured [they were the authorities for the government quarantine].”

Liaquat shared that Student Mobility — in an email sent before his departure — communicated that arriving from a country deemed “high risk by the UAE authorities” could result in quarantine in a “government specified facility.” He added that this is “not something you would know prior [to] traveling.” Liaquat was taken to the fourth phase of a quarantine facility in the Al Razeen Health Quarantine Complex which, according to Khaleej Times, was “readied in record time” and could accept 9,984 patients as of June 8.

Upon arrival at the facility, Liaquat said that he was in contact with staff from the Office of Global Education, however “there was no point of contact” for him or Kachalia at the government facility. He was initially placed in a four bedroom space with three other people who had to isolate as per government guidelines, followed by a shift three days later to a similar space where he was alone. A second shift was made a few days later wherein he was placed in another four bedroom space, inhabited only by him and Kachalia. Both Kachalia and Liaquat had undergone a similar pattern of room shifts, and they noted that these occurred at night between 2:00 and 4:00 am. Their PCR testing happened during similar time frames.

Kachalia shared that his first PCR test in the facility was conducted in a testing area inside the facility. The rest of his tests were conducted on a sidewalk within the facility where health officials would administer PCR tests to the people in quarantine.

Kachalia and Liaquat explained that the floor of the facility they were on had, according to visual estimates, 12 to 15 rooms, along with a bathroom space that contained eight to 15 bathroom stalls, showers and sinks, shared by all residents of the floor.

“People on the floor … would roam around … without masks … even in the quarantine facility,” Liaquat said. “It's… very scary to be [there] because if one person on the floor catches … the virus, everybody is affected.”

In an email to the Office of the Dean of Students and the Covid-19 Response Team, Liaquat and Kachalia claimed (this claim was not independently verified by The Gazelle) that they had learnt of a few individuals on their floor who were able to leave the facility earlier on precedence of “the availability of an isolated space in their home.” They requested that a similar exception be made for their case. We learnt that a representative of the NYUAD administration acted on this email and requested for the relocation of the students. This request was denied, and they further learned that anyone who starts government mandated quarantine in a facility must end said quarantine in the same facility.

Although both Kachalia and Liaquat had to overstay their 14-day quarantine period to 16 and 17 days respectively, they were allowed to leave the quarantine center after confirming their negative test results. Kachalia shared that on the day of their release, they were sent to a different part of the facility where they did some paperwork confirming their release. After that, they were put into buses that dropped them off at the Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station near Al Wahda Mall.

Kyle Farley, Dean of Students, was in contact with the students when they arrived in the quarantine facility. He advised them to reach out to their faculty directly and emphasized the availability of various resources like counselling services.

Kachalia shared that the quarantine and isolation, especially after Liaquat left, was extremely difficult for him and he actively got in contact with the Health Centre to cope with it: “It just took a real toll on my mental health at that time. I was okay till the fourteenth day because I was expecting to be there for fourteen days. But after that it just got really worse, also because my friend left a day or two before me.” Liaquat said that he was not able to attend his classes properly, and he still has not fully caught up with them.

As more students are expected to return to campus for spring 2021, quarantining in a government facility as opposed to self-isolating on campus may be a requirement for many coming to the UAE from high-risk countries.