| Postcard from Quarantine
By staff reporter Zeng Ping
I happened to be on the same flight from Mexico to Shanghai as a 25-year-old Mexican man who was later confirmed to have the A/H1N1 strain of influenza, so-called Swine Flu.
On April 28, local time, when I left, Mexico City presented a bleak picture with all roadside food stores closed. I, like most Chinese people visiting Mexico had chosen to leave the epicenter of the flu outbreak.
After a 20 hour flight, the Aeromexico flight carrying 176 passengers from Mexico to Shanghai landed at Pudong International Airport, where it was met by vans carrying health officials to carry out health checks on passengers before were allowed off the plane.
Most of the passengers on board were Chinese. Most people seemed nervous as the white-coated health officials performed the check ups. The tests took about one hour and everyone was cleared to disembark. I continued my journey to Beijing.
But the 25 year-old Mexican traveler developed a sore throat and a cough a few hours after he flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong.
At 4 a.m. the next day, I was woken by a call from the Beijing Disease Control and Prevention Center and asked to spend a period in quarantine period, in case I had been exposed to the virus.
I had been expecting the call and I quite understood the need to safeguard the public. But because the Mexican traveler's seat was not disclosed, I had no idea how near to him I had been sitting.
I was taken to Beijing Ditan Hospital where I was put in a quite pleasant room which was equipped with a cabinet, a refrigerator, a portable TV set and a bathroom. The only thing that was not available was the Internet connection. The nurses were lovely girls and treated me very well. If it had not been for the hospital gown I was wearing I might have forgotten that I was in quarantine.
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The quarantine room is equipped with a cabinet, a refrigerator, a portable TV set and a bathroom. Zeng Ping |
My body temperature was measured every two hours. I found out that the other 16 passengers who were sitting on the flight and later travelled to Beijing have been located. In all fifteen of the group, none of whom have shown any symptoms so far, have been put in isolation and are being monitored.
Later that day, I heard on the news the government had suspended all scheduled flights between China and Mexico until further notice and was sending a chartered flight to bring back those Chinese people still in Mexico.
On May 3, we were transferred to Guomenglu Hotel for the remainder of our quarantine period. I was glad to find our new accommodation was pleasant and the food was good.
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Fine dishes are prepared for quarantined people. Zeng Ping |
(Source: China.org.cn) | 
