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Waiting to get OUT of Q Hotel on Day 10

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PhilRes

So the end of the process is Cert on negative test goes to hotel - they submitted to the COAST GUARD who then submit to the Quarantine Bureau - who are supposed to send you a final get out of jail certificate before you can go home to finish your quarantine at home.

I have been pushing since yesterday via the hotel as my contact point to get confirm this last step will happen...and best I got was it would come in overnight...which it didn't.

They gave me an email and phone of the Bureau and have chased direct - phone of course only a busy signal.

So lesson learned - I should have stayed on that one more - i.e. calling hotel right after emailing on day EIGHT to be sure they did their part and getting confirm - who knows really where the lag is. I assume there is a first in first out and limited staff to process, but of course you never know if there is something you missed, etc.

I will add that I used Red Cross for my test and they had a working app that allowed you to track the testing...got anxious when it went for a retest but negative...So on one level gee great tech, on another needless anxiety!

So this is a note to anybody that is in that lag between submitted the negative PCR test and waiting for clearance - you may want to push it, starting with your hotel.  I assume plenty of time as there no actual substantial decision in play to get in

PhilRes

at noon I called desk and they had their Coast Guard representative call me, we discussed my status and he OK'd me to leave - then followed up on the Certificate and it came in an hour or so later, after I had checked OUT.  So keep that in mind if you have done nothing wrong and it is in process too long.  But as it has to be submitted by the Hotel I recomend you make sure that is done ASAP as that is the LAST point you have any influence!

Home now - they did take down details of my driver and car but nothing in my Baranguay and happy to be HOME even if its House Arrest for 4 more days...then NCR on hard lockdown until the 20th....boy I have great timing....

So that its from me in terms of real time experience with getting back in the Country.

I would say that having a good space for Quarantine is worth whatever extra margin paid, I only started to lose it when I could LEAVE this morning :)

BassMan_720

Hi PhilRes

I'm glad to hear that you have been released.

My timing is not so good. Even if released after 10 days, I can not return home until the Bohol travel ban is lifted on 20th.

I don't know what happens after I'm released from the hotel. I hope I can find an alternative hotel for the rest of my enforced stay. Unless I have some official papers to prove that I am clean, I will not be accepted. I might have to squat in the Isolation Hotel.

I could consider digging an escape tunnel and hiring (or stealing) a small boat to get back home and dealing with the consequences later. Spending time in  a jail cell cant be much worse than the free government Isolation centres. One night there was enough.

Regards

Steve

Moon Dog

Congratulations on getting out, sounds like there were some anxious moments. I know it is difficult to impossible to get though to the Red Cross on the phone. For what it's worth I contacted them by clicking on a link on the page where you check the progress. I had my certificate 17 hours after the swab test. I was nervous because I didn't get tested until the 8th day and maybe my message reached the right people but I'll never know for sure. Worth a try.

PhilRes

The Red Cross went off without a hitch for me, so had their Cert. on Day 8 - it  was the final certificate from Bureau of Quarantine that was the stall - fact I was able to get the Coast Guard to just clear me w/out it important lesson for anybody facing a flight, etc.  But man be sure to do all you can do to give max time for that last cert. God knows how many bodies they actually have working.

On Bohol, I will now shut up about complaining I am released after NCR goes into Quarantine as I at least at home.  Let us know how you manage to get released NOT to you home after day 10 or they force you to stay there till day 14?

Good luck - Bohol is a beautiful place to get home to, when you can get home!

Glen Adkins

Best to not travel and not to spend extra money in the Philippines.

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