Govt confirms 2nd flu case, quarantine numbers swell

• Source: The Global Times
• [07:24 May 14 2009]
• Comments

Health authorities in Shandong said they had reached 19 of the 43 other train passengers.
The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau told the Global Times yesterday that all 15 people who flew on AC029 and sat in the identified rows had been found and put under medical observation.

Meanwhile, an additional 60 people were also quarantined yesterday at the Home Inn hotel where Lv had stayed for three days in Beijing before leaving Monday for Jinan.

Outside the hotel, located in the Anzhen neighborhood in the northern part of the city, the smell of disinfectant solution was noticeable.

Seven security guards wearing facemasks and gloves could be seen outside the hotel, which had been closed off.

Inside the cordoned area, several men were seen packing bed sheets into a minivan, likely to disinfect them.

And a Hong Kong man who recently returned from the US tested positive for the virus late yesterday, making him the second patient there.

Response by rail authorities questioned

LÜ reportedly felt feverish Monday, but he was still allowed to board the train Monday to Jinan. While on the train, he reported by phone to the Jinan Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

He was later put under medical isolation, the MOH said.

But apparently, railway authorities hadn’t taken any quarantine measures. China National
Radio (CNR) quoted Jinan railway authorities as saying that neither the railway station nor the train staff sought any direction from the health department.

An anonymous press officer at Beijing Railway Station told the Global Times yesterday that an emergency quarantine area has been measured off in Beijing Station and Beijing South Station, the officer added.

Asked whether temperature detectors had been installed in the entry point at the station, the official responded “there should be some.”

But such equipment could not be seen yesterday at either station, according to CNR.

Quarantine diary: no swimming allowed

An Internet blog, believed to be written by a Chinese girl who identified herself as one of those being quarantined, has became well read among Web surfers.

The blogger, Zhong Shuang, has been writing the online account of her quarantine in Beijing since Monday.

Seen from the photos uploaded by Zhong, the food service includes fruits as well as meals containing fresh vegetables and meat. Zhong also noted that the service was good and those quarantined had access to entertainment and outdoor activities. But Zhong said that her request to swim in the hotel pool was turned down, as doctors insisted that swimming might cause her to catch a cold.