Celiac woman says she hasn’t eaten in 40 hours while at Toronto quarantine hotel

Janet Game said she has not been given gluten-free food at the hotel and cannot eat the food otherwise due to her extreme celiac disease.

An Edmonton woman with extreme celiac disease says that she has not eaten for at least 40 hours because she has not received gluten-free food at a quarantine hotel in Toronto.

Janet Game said she last ate around 4:30 a.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 4, while on a flight from Ethiopia.

Janet and her husband Maku Game arrived 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.

As of Nov. 30, Canada requires those who have been to South Africa within 14 days to stay at a designated quarantine facility while they await the results of an arrival test, even if they are fully vaccinated.

Maku has had three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and Janet has had two doses.

Maku said they arrived at the Hilton hotel for quarantine at around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, but did not receive dinner that night.

The next morning, they also did not receive a meal. It wasn’t until lunchtime on Dec. 5 that she said they got their first meal — one portion of crispy chicken that was not gluten-free.

Janet said she has severe celiac disease and her food cannot even be cross-contaminated with gluten. If she eats gluten, she will be in great pain and have diarrhea, she said.