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Trapped in a hotel room: my scientific life in the pandemic
Jen Lewendon’s move from the United Kingdom for a postdoc restricted her travel and led to extended stints in quarantine. Here’s what the experience taught her.
I’ve spent more than two of the past five months self-isolating in hotel rooms in Thailand and Hong Kong, forbidden to step outside. During these stints I have, at times, stood before a mirror just to appreciate an unmasked human face staring back at me. I’ve looked forward to the knock on the door indicating that a stranger, dressed from head to toe in personal protective equipment, is waiting to stick a swab up my nose and down my throat. I’ve stared through the peep-hole, excited by the warped, goldfish view of a hotel assistant dropping my meal off in the corridor. And I’ve lain in bed at 10 p.m. watching some creepy thriller, only to jump out of my skin as, without warning, someone wipes down my door with disinfectant.
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Nature600, 559-560 (2021)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03566-4
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