These days, the news is filled with stories of China’s quick quarantines if there is any suspicion of the H1N1 flu, from the New Orleans mayor to American school groups.
Last weekend, I met someone who directly experienced their tough stance on swine flu. A Chinese friend who studies in the U.S. returned home for a summer internship last week. She had a slight sore throat and general cold symptoms so she stopped by the local hospital to get some medication. “Have you been in the U.S. lately?” they asked. Once she said yes, they quickly responded — with a quarantine.
She was put in a small cell in the hospital that she described as prison-like, though it did have a bed and its own bathroom. Unfortunately, she hadn’t brought any reading material and her cell phone was dead so she was subjected to 15 hours of solitary confinement without entertainment. Once her results came back as negative (no one on her flight had even been suspected, much less tested positive), she got to head out around midnight — a much better situation than some of the suspected cases who have to wait weeks in hotel quarantines.
Among the worse tales of ruined vacation: A school group from Maryland apparently got quarantined for a week, even though no one on their flight ended up having the virus. They were released with just one day left in their planned weeklong trip to China.
Still, the government is crediting the aggressive stance on H1N1 for substantially reducing the number of cases here.
And the Chinese I’ve spoken to all seem to applaud the effort. After critiques about delays and lack of information about the more deadly SARS, this is a welcome change, they say. It will be interesting to follow the government’s reaction if the flu does pick up speed among the vast populations here.
For now, it’s interesting to check out accounts of the quarantine bloggers.
Among this tech guy’s observations: “Everyone is wearing masks, and I feel like I’m on one of those old islands they used to send the lepers.”
Kellie Schmitt
Schmitt is a Shanghai-based writer who has been published in the Wall Street Journal, The Economist’s Business China, L.A. Times, L.A. Weekly, and Backpacker. She also writes Shanghai features for CNNgo, a new travel and lifestyle Web site. Driven by her love of good food, ...
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