Woman Claims Toronto Quarantine Hotel Didn't Feed Her for 40 Hours

An Edmonton woman with celiac disease claims she could not for more than 40 hours because she did not receive gluten-free food at a quarantine hotel in Toronto.

Janet Game had last eaten around 4:30 a.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 4, while on her flight from Ethiopia. She arrived with her husband Maku in Toronto at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 4 and were ordered to quarantine until they received a negative COVID-19 test because Maku had been in South Africa 13 days earlier, where the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has spread.

Maku has had three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and Janet has had two doses. She asserts that when she arrived at the hotel for quarantine, she did not receive dinner that night. The next morning, they also did not receive a meal. Only at lunchtime on Dec. 5 did she say they got their first meal — non gluten-free chicken.

Janet said her food cannot even be cross-contaminated with gluten, or she will be in great pain and have diarrhea. “I have to be careful,” she asserted.

Although they calling Red Cross Canada at least five times throughout the day and were ultimately able to reach a representative who took their food request, they again received a meal that was not gluten-free.

Only around 9:40 p.m. EST did she get some fruit; and a gluten-free bagel the next morning. She went without food for 41 hours.

“I just want to go home, I haven’t eaten any food,” Janet said in an interview. “I’m extremely tired and extremely exhausted.”

“It’s so scary,” Janet said describing the hotel. “You can’t see anybody. They put wall-to-wall plastic. It’s like a science-fiction world here. … They’re taking it too far.”