Stuck in quarantine with a 3-year-old no child’s play for Gold Coaster who fled coronavirus

A Gold Coast mum has revealed what it has been like to spend nearly 14 days in quarantine in a Brisbane hotel, saying it was ‘tougher’ than she expected.

FLEEING the US with her daughter in the middle of a global pandemic was a no-brainer for Gold Coaster Cantebury Jones.

But it doesn’t mean her 14-day quarantine in a Brisbane hotel with a three-year-old was a picnic either.

“At the start I was kind of looking forward to it but now I’ve gone through my 20,000 photos and we’ve played hide and seek in the same room for a week, it’s been tougher than I thought,” she said.

The pair have been holed up in Rydges South Bank under police guard with only 15 minutes outside in a small courtyard being hard with an energetic toddler. But she has filled in her days with craft, TV, reading and dreaming about taking daughter Alethea back to frolic on Gold Coast beaches.

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Cantebury Jones with 3-year-old daughter Alethea Ratliff, who left the US in April and have been quarantined under police guard for 14 days. Photo: Supplied

Ms Jones couldn’t fault Rydges but admitted the crumbs were starting to build up as the rooms weren’t serviced and brooms and dust pans weren’t allowed.

At 10am tomorrow they walk free and will visit South Bank with Ms Jones’s sister before heading to the Gold Coast to celebrate her mother’s birthday.

“I’m not sure what the future holds, maybe it’s time to reinvent myself because the world is certainly going to be a much different place from now on,” she said.

She believes she had coronavirus just after Christmas.

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Cantebury Jones has spent two weeks in quarantine with 3-year-old daughter Alethea Ratliff. Photo: Supplied

“I was feeling horrible with the worst flu-like thing I’d ever had. It’s the sickest I’ve ever been,” Ms Jones said.

“By New Year’s Eve a friend convinced me to get checked out and they tested me for the flu and it came back fine but said I was suffering from some kind of bronchial condition. I was wiped out for at least a week.”

Ms Jones said Alethea didn’t get it and it was before coronavirus was even a thing in the US. Life continued as normal at her hometown in Nashville until the start of March when social distancing started.

Cantebury Jones spent Mother’s Day in isolation under police guard at Rydges South Bank hotel in Brisbane with 3-year-old daughter Alethea Ratliff. Photo: Supplied

“In some places I wasn’t allowed to let my daughter use the restroom at the chemist because I wasn’t wearing a face mask.

“My mum and sister kept calling me telling me to think about coming home. This was after Australia had closed the borders to non-residents and citizens. It wasn’t until April 8 that I knew I had to sell up all my stuff and just move home.”

She managed to score a $485 flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane and knew it was a sign to return to “the safest place in the world”.

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Life in isolation under police guard in Brisbane hasn’t been easy for 3-year-old Alethea Ratliff because she’s missed her friends back in Nashville. Photo: Supplied

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With their worldly possessions in 10 bags, friends and strangers helped pay excess baggage charges and they boarded their plane. Ms Jones was made to wear a mask for the flight but Alethea wasn’t.

“It was a little weird, claustrophobic and we just had to trust that other people on the flight were doing the right thing.”