As I was given the above advice here is my experience on 28th April
On arrival at CLK at 06.30 we were parked on an outer bay, for reasons not given but that meant we were all herded onto buses. Several passengers were volubly angry at this and it would be a great place to pick up a virus.
We were taken to the lower arrivals hall where the first stage of processing was started. We noted that all the many staff in the terminal were dressed in PPE kit that the NHS in the UK would die for, indeed that is exactly what they are doing for lack of it. Our medical forms, provided onboard, were read and marked up and our phone numbers checked and more paperwork handed out. If we had not already downloaded our tracking apps we did it there and the wrist band tracker was put on and secured. It is about the size of a young pilots watch but appreciably lighter.
After that it was upstairs to immigration where one officer checked everybody, no complaints there as there were so few passengers per minute that there was no queue. We picked up baggage as normal and were guided after customs by roped off areas and security staff to the bus to take us to the Asia Expo centre. Total elapsed time so far from brakes on, about an hour and a half. There was no opportunity for us to buy food or drink at the airport.
The bus is a normal HATS type bus but they only seem to take ten pax at a time which was comforting. At Asia Expo we took our bags off (helped by handlers) and left them all in a secure staffed area and given a baggage tag. We then got back on the bus to take us to the other side of Asia Expo. Here we were interviewed, given a bag with a sample tube in it, more paperwork and told to go and watch an explanatory video of the sample taking procedure. We skipped the video as it is pretty obvious and went to a booth to give the sample.
This is a new procedure. The reasons that intra-oral swabs are not now used are beyond this post so now you spit into the tube in your sample bag. For the convenience of those of you who are new to Asia the process is helpfully translated into English as “Make the noise of ‘Kruuua’ from the throat…” which had me in stitches for a minute as I had never seen that pan-asian utterance written down.
Now the hard part. On to another vast room in the expo centre in which are set out around 200 chairs and desks separated by 4 metres like an examination room. Invigilators in PPE line the walls, and you are allocated a desk. And there you sit for seven hours. A Maxims sandwich and a bottle of water is given after an hour. We were told not to fraternise but family groups are allowed to share a desk. The seats are hard so I sat on the spare clothes in my cabin bag to save the piles. The temperature is very cold, so bring a coat or sweater, or you will catch a flu. Oh, wait…
At 3.00pm a supervisor called us forward by number, told us we were negative and we were given yet another envelope with a sample tube to be used in 12 days time and he bade us fare well. Taxis are available outside after walking to the old Marriot or a bus will take you back to the airport. We did not see any taxis back at the airport, you will need to call for one, but I was advised very few drivers will come out there now. The Airport Express still runs.
So now I am back home housebound for 14 days. No movement outside the four walls of the flat allowed. Luckily someone had stocked the fridge and will deliver stuff daily, but even after one day I long to get out and exercise. It is going to be a long quarantine, but at least I am home.