• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
  • Online archive
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

    Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

    Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

    Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

    Commissioner promises improvements to Cumbria’s fire and rescue service

    Commissioner promises improvements to Cumbria’s fire and rescue service

    Illegal campers fined for causing significant damage in Lake District

    Illegal campers fined for causing significant damage in Lake District

    Man dies after falling from A66 bridge

    Man dies after falling from A66 bridge

    New senior coroner appointed for Cumbria

    New senior coroner appointed for Cumbria

    Red letter day for young Skelton farmer

    Red letter day for young Skelton farmer

    Cumbrian bellringers success in national contest

    Cumbrian bellringers success in national contest

    Bid to turn barns into homes get go-ahead

    Bid to turn barns into homes get go-ahead

  • Sport
    New management set to lead Appleby Football Club

    New management set to lead Appleby Football Club

    Success for fighting squad

    Success for fighting squad

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

    Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

    Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

    Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

    Commissioner promises improvements to Cumbria’s fire and rescue service

    Commissioner promises improvements to Cumbria’s fire and rescue service

    Illegal campers fined for causing significant damage in Lake District

    Illegal campers fined for causing significant damage in Lake District

    Man dies after falling from A66 bridge

    Man dies after falling from A66 bridge

    New senior coroner appointed for Cumbria

    New senior coroner appointed for Cumbria

    Red letter day for young Skelton farmer

    Red letter day for young Skelton farmer

    Cumbrian bellringers success in national contest

    Cumbrian bellringers success in national contest

    Bid to turn barns into homes get go-ahead

    Bid to turn barns into homes get go-ahead

  • Sport
    New management set to lead Appleby Football Club

    New management set to lead Appleby Football Club

    Success for fighting squad

    Success for fighting squad

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    Penrith skipper Nicky Burns calls on team to keep winning

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    £100,000 target for new changing rooms extension

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Medal success for Upper Eden tug-of-war team

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Eden man competes in Hyrox World Games

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home Latest

Eden couple return home after five-month Taiwan lockdown

by CWH
10 August 2020
in Latest, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


An Eden couple have returned home after flying out to visit family in Taiwan and ending up being stranded there for nearly five months as COVID-19 spread across the world.

Philip and Janet Bowden, of Great Salkeld, jetted out to Taiwan on 28th February intending to stay for seven weeks. However, as the pandemic hit crisis point flights back to the UK were grounded and they were forced to stay in Taiwan until 17th July.

Having managed to get a direct flight back to Heathrow they have recently finished a self-imposed two week quarantine period to ensure the safety of neighbours around them in Great Salkeld.

Philip and Janet, who moved to the village in 2012 following teaching careers in the North East, flew out to visit their son Matthew who lives in Taiwan with his wife Shuangi and their three-year-old son Oliver.

They planned the visit to start at the end of February as Shuangi was pregnant with a due date at the beginning of March.

While Philip and Janet were in Taiwan she gave birth to their first granddaughter, Eleanor, on 6th March and Philip said being able to spend so long with their grandchildren was the “silver lining” of the situation.

They had planned to stay with Matthew and family for around one month before flying to Jakarta where their younger son, Christopher, lives with his family.

Sadly due to the COVID outbreak they were moved by Christopher’s employers to Hong Kong and Philip and Janet have had to fly home without being able to see them.

Philip, aged 65, said when they set off on their visit in February there were concerns about the COVID-19 virus but they had “no idea it was developing the way it was”.

He described how on landing in Taiwan the authorities had reacted early to the emerging situation having set up a pandemic planning cell after they were badly hit by the SARS outbreak in 2003.

With a population of 23,500 million people in Taiwan and being so close to China where the first COVID cases were confirmed, they had got information on the virus and responded quickly.

A number of schools had been closed in Taiwan in January and by the time Philip and Janet left the country there had been only seven deaths over 450 days which he said was thanks to the contact tracing they implemented and management of anyone with symptoms.

Early on in their holiday Janet, aged 62, received worrying news that her elderly mother had been taken into hospital in Wigan.

Within a month she was moved to a rehabilitation centre and then home — at which point they decided they must get back to the UK but found all international flights out of Taiwan were grounded.

Stuck in Taiwan they were relieved when the government automatically doubled all visitor visas from 90 days to 180 days, and settled in to living in the city.

“Taiwan wasn’t shut down in the same way the UK was so we could go into shops — we had to wear a mask and have temperature checks and leave name and contact number — but other than that movement was quite free.”

Philip hired a road bike and was regularly out cycling, the couple also did some swimming.

“We felt quite guilty reading the reports from the UK and talking to Janet’s mum that we were able to do all these things while people in the UK were stuck in their homes.”

Watching the virus hit the UK, Philip said they were concerned about what they would be returning to and his son and daughter-in-law wanted them to stay with them in Taiwan for a year.

Keeping an eye on when an air bridge could open, Philip said that having flown with Emirates the company was obliged to get them home.

The first flights they began to operate were a reduced number of flights from Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, to Hong Kong which the couple planned to book and fly onto the UK.

However Philip said by chance he found some information online from the Hong Kong government showing that on those first three flights into Hong Kong there had been 19, 11 and 13 passengers testing positive for COVID-19 when they landed.

“I looked at that with horror and decided to leave it a week but when I checked it a week later they were still double figures of positives coming in and it actually caused a surge in Hong Kong.”

They decided it was too “risky” travelling on an aircraft that could have those numbers of positive cases and also felt uncomfortable about being in transit in Dubai airport for up to eight hours on the journey back to the UK and instead decided to wait for a direct flight.

Direct flights from Taipei to Heathrow opened, operating once every two weeks, and Philip and Janet secured a place on the second route, flying back on 17th July.

Although Philip said he felt comfortable with that flight, their friends in Taiwan were so concerned that a team at their daughter-in-law’s textile firm worked overnight to produce two full PPE suits which were couriered to them.

“That was how they wanted us to fly back but we chose not to. It was over the top in some ways but out of genuine concern.”

Philip and Janet flew back into Heathrow on the 14-hour flight as part of 70 passengers on the 350 seater plane.

He said he felt comfortable with the set up at Heathrow although was surprised when forms they had to fill in to enter the UK were not checked.

“It was certainly looser than in Taipei but I didn’t feel unsafe in any way,” he added.

Having safely returned to their Great Salkeld home Philip and Janet went into isolation for 14 days to be mindful of some of their older neighbours — many of whom had helped at their home while they were away and they stayed in touch with via a Facebook group set up for villagers.

“It’s always good to be home and after 18 weeks on a sofa bed sleeping in your own bed is fantastic!” Philip said.

Related Posts

Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed
Expert advice

Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

20 July 2025
Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank
Latest

Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

19 July 2025
Commissioner promises improvements to Cumbria’s fire and rescue service
News

Commissioner promises improvements to Cumbria’s fire and rescue service

18 July 2025
Illegal campers fined for causing significant damage in Lake District
News

Illegal campers fined for causing significant damage in Lake District

18 July 2025
Man dies after falling from A66 bridge
News

Man dies after falling from A66 bridge

18 July 2025
New senior coroner appointed for Cumbria
News

New senior coroner appointed for Cumbria

18 July 2025
No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

Youngsters raise cash for Penrith food bank

19 July 2025
Small rise in odour complaints in Penrith area

Small rise in odour complaints in Penrith area

18 July 2025
Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

Mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind delayed

20 July 2025
Cumbrian bellringers success in national contest

Cumbrian bellringers success in national contest

18 July 2025
All change at Penruddock Primary School

All change at Penruddock Primary School

18 July 2025
Five boxes of nitrous oxide seized from car in Penrith

Five boxes of nitrous oxide seized from car in Penrith

17 July 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo

33 Middlegate
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7SY

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England as Barrnon Media Limited. No: 12475190
VAT registration number: 343486488

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Photosales
  • Online archive
  • Buy your paper
  • Digital edition
  • North Lakes Living
  • Advertise
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2025

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
Review Your Cart
0
Discount
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount
Checkout

 
0
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • more
    • North Lakes Living
    • Buy Photos
    • Buy your paper
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald