Man in self-quarantine threatened with $3K fine after package with COVID test left on porch

Tim Squires is currently in self-quarantine and says a COVID-19 test he had to do for the federal government sat on the front porch of his Airbnb for more than a day because a delivery driver missed it.

He's since been threatened with a $3,000 fine by the federal government.

Squires is a Canadian man who lives in Michigan, but he is currently self-quarantining in Guelph, Ont., in order to visit a sick family member and his children in Niagara.

He says he was tested just before he crossedthe border, then did another test when hecrossed at the Windsor border on May 12. In Windsor, border officials gave him a box with supplies to do a second test on day eight of his quarantine.

Squires did his second COVID-19 test on Wednesday during a video chat with a nurse.

Second COVID-19 test

He then followed the instructions he was given by Switch, the agency handling the administrative work for his self-quarantine. They told him to contact Purolator to pick-up the pre-labelled package with his test and the company was to pick it up that afternoon.

Squires used a provided PIN online to register his package. A driver was supposed to pick it up that afternoon, but by evening the package was still on the patio table.

One of the problems with the process, Squires said, is that Purolator's website has a special instructions box, but it only allows for 45 characters.

The Airbnb he's at "happens to be a complicated set-up" so to explain where he was located, and that the driver would have to walk to the back of the building, was not easy in 45 characters.

"I think what happened is the fellow came by and just looked around and didn't see anything that looked like someplace where he could pick up a package and he just left," Squires said.

Threat of $3,000 fine

Squires says when the package wasn't picked up, he called Purolator and had to send an email with detailedinstructions. He was told it would be picked up by 10 a.m. Thursday.

The package was picked up just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

But because the test is supposed to arrive at the lab within 24 hours, the delay earned him a warning from the federal government.

On Friday, Squires received an email telling him he must submit his test. He was warned he faced a $3,000 fine if it wasn't received on time.

That email, and the threat of a possible fine, "sort of derailed my morning a little bit," he said.

Switch and Purolator did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.

Squires says Switch told him it would probably be OK, but he's not so sure.

"I want to go see my family next week. I don't want to have to be dealing with any other issues," he said.

"I have two children here. Prior to the COVID shutdown, I was coming home every other week to visit, so for 14, 15 months during COVID, I haven't actually seen them face-to-face. I'm looking forward to that next week, too."

'Somebody needs to be responsive'

Squires says the quarantine process is not an easy one but he complied because the ultimate goal of curbing COVID-19 spread is a legitimate one. He said he personally knewpeople who died from the virus.

"I understand the seriousness of it," he said.

But, he adds, the government needs to make sure things run smoothly. If they don't, or if the government doesn'taddress problems when they happen, people will lose faith with the system or won't follow the rules.

"They do need a mechanism for people to be heard. You can't just be put in quarantine and when something falls apart, you're just left there. That's tough for people," he said.

"When you're dealing with something that seems pretty significant and you can't leave your property, somebody needs to be responsive to these issues."

Squires said he'd do the COVID-19 test again if necessary, but he hopes the process goes more smoothly.

"I don't want to go through the rest of this again. If they'll come and get it, that's fine," he said.

"It's kind of stressful the last day or two and then to get the email this morning that they're going to fine me $3,000 because I haven't sent it in, it's a little upsetting."