Italy coronavirus: Three ‘stuck in eternal hell’ quarantine detention

Three British men say they’ve been held against their will in a quarantine facility in Italy, more than a month after they came down with COVID-19.

Three British mates say they are “stuck in eternal hell” as they are held against their will in a COVID-19 quarantine detention centre in Italy.

Will Castle, 22, Rhys James, 23 and Quinn Paczesny, 20, were teaching English in Florence when they tested positive for coronavirus on August 17.

They were then taken from hospital to a coronavirus centre and put in small, separate rooms where they face being stuck indefinitely.

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Will Castle, 22, Rhys James, 23 and Quinn Paczesny, 20, contracted coronavirus while they were in Florence, Italy, teaching English.

Patients who have tested positive for the virus must test negative twice at least 24 hours apart before they are allowed to leave.

Their meals, which can sometimes consist of just mozzarella and carrots, are left outside their rooms by staff in hazmat suits.

They are forced to wash their clothes in the bathroom sink, using only shampoo.

The three Brits tested positive for coronavirus on August 17.

The men, who have been transferred to three separate facilities over the past five weeks, now want the UK government to intervene and help them leave the country and be repatriated.

They fear otherwise they could still be stuck in Italy at Christmas.

“What we are looking for is the Foreign Office – or whoever has the ability to get us out of here – to get in and repatriate us,” Mr Castle, from West Sussex, told the Sunday Times.

“We just want someone to take notice so we can return home. We can isolate there.

The three pals have called on the UK government to help them get home.

“We just want to continue our lives and not be stuck in this eternal hell.

“We could test negative next week, the week after, or never. We are literally at their mercy as to when we get to leave.”

Mr Castle also claims one of his friends suffers from Coeliac disease but says his dietary needs have not been catered for and he has, at times, been forced to eat food containing gluten.

“The pastoral care has just been really rubbish,” he told the Metro.

To keep their spirits up the three pals often video-call one another but they say the Wi-Fi connection can be poor.

The friends say they have to live in basic accommodation.

The only in-person interaction they have with others is when a cleaner, in a hazmat suit, comes to disinfect their rooms.

“We are all in separate rooms, not allowed to leave these four walls. The meals are lacking in nutrition,” Mr Paczesny, from Nottinghamshire, said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has previously warned against requiring two negative tests before releasing people from quarantine, saying it could result in “long periods of isolation … affecting individual wellbeing”.

Mr Paczesny said their meals lacked proper nutrition.

The three men are regularly tested every Monday but have so far tested positive every week.

They say this is because of “dead coronavirus cells” that have stayed in their system.

The UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Our staff are in regular contact with the local health authorities about the cases, and have raised concerns with them about their dietary requirements.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission