China Travel Alert - Quarantine

[cloudhopper]

Just received this e-mail excerpted here regarding H1N1 - what a f***d up place!

Current quarantine measures in China include placing arriving passengers who exhibit fever or flu-like symptoms into seven-day quarantine. Although the proportion of arriving Americans being quarantined remains low, the random nature of the selection process increases the uncertainty surrounding travel to China. The selection process focuses on those sitting in close proximity to another traveler exhibiting fever or flu-like symptoms or on those displaying an elevated temperature if arriving from an area where outbreaks of 2009-H1N1 have occurred. We have reports of passengers arriving from areas where outbreaks have occurred (including the U.S. and Mexico) being placed in precautionary quarantine simply because they registered slightly elevated temperatures.

In some instances, children have been separated from their parents because either the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 and was placed in quarantine for treatment. This situation presents the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without first having consulted their parents.

The Department of State has received reports about unsuitable quarantine conditions, including the unavailability of suitable drinking water and food, unsanitary conditions, and the inability to communicate with others.

[samui04]

Just received this e-mail excerpted here regarding H1N1 - what a f***d up place!

Nah, you need to visit the Middle East..

They put you in jail for 4 years if they discover you have a medicine for curing fever...

[Carib]

Stay home, everything is sooo much better there.

[jfchandler]

I came thru Suvarnabhumi the other day on my return to Thailand... All arriving international passengers were being routed thru a checkpoint single file, just prior to reaching immigration, where there were medical personnel stationed and they were using a thermal scanning camera (I assume) to look for fever signs.

I'm guessing, if someone showed signs of fever, they'd be scooped up and quarantined in Soi Cowboy for a week...

Curiously, on the way out a week before (just a day or so after the big outbreak in Pattaya), all (as in every single one I could see up and down the row) the immigration officers were wearing masks. On the return Saturday, only a very few of the immigration officers seemed to be wearing masks.

[LaoPo]

The WHO declared the A (H1N1) flu to be a worldwide pandemic disease and growing into a monster.

It's obvious that many countries -China included- take their own steps to try and prevent it growing.

That some steps are maybe looking too harsh is understandable but today a school in China had to close it's doors in Guangdong province because of the flu.

It's not over yet - by far!

I wonder how the OP would react if he contracted the flu BECAUSE checks/control measurements were "soft"...

LaoPo

[cloudhopper]

The WHO declared the A (H1N1) flu to be a worldwide pandemic disease and growing into a monster.

It's obvious that many countries -China included- take their own steps to try and prevent it growing.

That some steps are maybe looking too harsh is understandable but today a school in China had to close it's doors in Guangdong province because of the flu.

It's not over yet - by far!

I wonder how the OP would react if he contracted the flu BECAUSE checks/control measurements were "soft"...

LaoPo

WHO guidance from 7 May recommends no travel restrictions based on this strain of influenza stating that "Scientific research based on mathematical modelling shows that restricting travel would be of limited or no benefit in stopping the spread of disease".

So to answer your question, if I contracted H1N1 I wouldn't blame lack of control measures, draconian or otherwise. And if my child was taken from me and kept incommunicado in unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week I would be very grateful that they were taking their own steps that are apparently far more progressive and compassionate than any other country's.

[LaoPo]

The WHO declared the A (H1N1) flu to be a worldwide pandemic disease and growing into a monster.

It's obvious that many countries -China included- take their own steps to try and prevent it growing.

That some steps are maybe looking too harsh is understandable but today a school in China had to close it's doors in Guangdong province because of the flu.

It's not over yet - by far!

I wonder how the OP would react if he contracted the flu BECAUSE checks/control measurements were "soft"...

LaoPo

WHO guidance from 7 May recommends no travel restrictions based on this strain of influenza stating that "Scientific research based on mathematical modelling shows that restricting travel would be of limited or no benefit in stopping the spread of disease".

So to answer your question, if I contracted H1N1 I wouldn't blame lack of control measures, draconian or otherwise. And if my child was taken from me and kept incommunicado in unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week I would be very grateful that they were taking their own steps that are apparently far more progressive and compassionate than any other country's.

Maybe you should start not to believe everything what news sources write every single day.

Please submit reliable sources that the authorities took children away from their parents and left them in "unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week"

I call that rubbish news.

LaoPo

[cloudhopper]

The WHO declared the A (H1N1) flu to be a worldwide pandemic disease and growing into a monster.

It's obvious that many countries -China included- take their own steps to try and prevent it growing.

That some steps are maybe looking too harsh is understandable but today a school in China had to close it's doors in Guangdong province because of the flu.

It's not over yet - by far!

I wonder how the OP would react if he contracted the flu BECAUSE checks/control measurements were "soft"...

LaoPo

WHO guidance from 7 May recommends no travel restrictions based on this strain of influenza stating that "Scientific research based on mathematical modelling shows that restricting travel would be of limited or no benefit in stopping the spread of disease".

So to answer your question, if I contracted H1N1 I wouldn't blame lack of control measures, draconian or otherwise. And if my child was taken from me and kept incommunicado in unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week I would be very grateful that they were taking their own steps that are apparently far more progressive and compassionate than any other country's.

Maybe you should start not to believe everything what news sources write every single day.

Please submit reliable sources that the authorities took children away from their parents and left them in "unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week"

I call that rubbish news.

LaoPo

In my OP I quoted my source as a US State Dept. travel alert Lao Po. While you are welcome to judge it's reliability, your priapic ad hominem accusation that I "believe everything what (sic) news sources write every single day" is uncalled for.

[Ijustwannateach]

^I agree. The reports do not sound exaggerated or hysterical, and are not saying this happens to everyone but rather that there is a nonzero chance of it happening. The risk is stated; the chance is up to individual families to take- depending on whether they'd gamble their children's health against the "rubbish" news.

On some travels I took recently at least one country (not China) was also quarantining people in a radius around "suspicious" (i.e. high fever) individuals scanned on planes, BEFORE people on the plane were allowed to deboard.

[nonthaburial]

^I agree. The reports do not sound exaggerated or hysterical, and are not saying this happens to everyone but rather that there is a nonzero chance of it happening. The risk is stated; the chance is up to individual families to take- depending on whether they'd gamble their children's health against the "rubbish" news.

On some travels I took recently at least one country (not China) was also quarantining people in a radius around "suspicious" (i.e. high fever) individuals scanned on planes, BEFORE people on the plane were allowed to deboard.

I live in Kunming and travel regularly, yes on my last TG flight from BKK, health officials boarded the plane on landing and screened everyone on board INCLUDING cabin crew. Happily everyone passed the temperature test and were allowed off only to run in to another medical check prior to immigration. Last weekend I flew to Shenzhen and crossed the border into HK, again screened on arrival in HK and again when checking into the hotel. On the return journey two screenings crossing the border back to Shenzhen after filling out health decleration forms which included contact numbers in China, I eventually got back to Kunming. The following morning I was called by an English speaking police officer who gave me his contact number and told to call him if I felt unwell. I jokingy asked him if I was unwell what weould happen to me. He said for you no problem but you are not to leave your house for 7 days and I would have medical visits every day. For tourists he said that there was a 4 star hotel with top floor sealed off which would be used for quarantine purposes.

Now that doesnt sound very draconian to me !!!! and for the record, its like security checks, they may be a pain in the rear end but rather that than having my aircraft bombed out of the sky

[LaoPo]

^I agree. The reports do not sound exaggerated or hysterical, and are not saying this happens to everyone but rather that there is a nonzero chance of it happening. The risk is stated; the chance is up to individual families to take- depending on whether they'd gamble their children's health against the "rubbish" news.

On some travels I took recently at least one country (not China) was also quarantining people in a radius around "suspicious" (i.e. high fever) individuals scanned on planes, BEFORE people on the plane were allowed to deboard.

Well, I still call it rubbish news if the US State Department would have said that: "the authorities took children away from their parents and left them in unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week"

But, reading back into the discussion I noticed that the OP Mr. Cloudhopper made that up himself and NOT

[LaoPo]

^I agree. The reports do not sound exaggerated or hysterical, and are not saying this happens to everyone but rather that there is a nonzero chance of it happening. The risk is stated; the chance is up to individual families to take- depending on whether they'd gamble their children's health against the "rubbish" news.

On some travels I took recently at least one country (not China) was also quarantining people in a radius around "suspicious" (i.e. high fever) individuals scanned on planes, BEFORE people on the plane were allowed to deboard.

Something went wrong with posting, so my proper answer is here, below:

Well IJWT, I still call it rubbish news if the US State Department would have said that: "the authorities took children away from their parents and left them in unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week" and in his (OP's) literally own words: "IF my child was taken from me and kept incommunicado in unsanitary conditions without decent food or water for a week........." SUGGESTING the Chinese authorities did take away children from their parents in those harsh conditions.

Maybe a few children were take into incommunicado in hotels/hospitals but knowing the Chinese and Chinese hotels/hospitals myself quite well I am 100% convinced that foreign children are spoiled and treated well by nurses and staff.

I therefore strongly oppose to the biased opinion *(upon US State Dep. news) by Mr. Cloudhopper about HOW the Chinese authorities handle the situation regarding the H1N1 Pandemic.

* http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_4238.html

But, reading back into the discussion in this topic I noticed that the OP Mr. Cloudhopper made that up himself and NOT the U.S. Department of State. So, it's sensational twisted news -and published here on the board- made up by the esteemed OP.

** Between April 25 and June 18 "Chinese health officials checked 22.8 million visitors on 26,903 flights, 37,588 ships and 1.3 million other vehicles......Of those, 6,037 visitors, or 0.03 percent, were found to have signs of flu including fever, and 90 people, or 0.0004 percent, were confirmed to have swine flu."

** http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=new...id=a3hHFvo8NN1k

It's so easy to criticize people or a country a community about how to handle and treat serious health issues like the worldwide H1N1 Flu, but I think that there's nobody on this forum or in the rest of the world who knows and/or realizes what an enormous task it is for a country like China with 1,3 Billion people to try and prevent an outbreak of the H1N1 Flu in their own country.

If China would NOT have checked those 23 millions passengers -and thus NOT have found 90 people or 0.0004 percent of those 23 million, how many people would those 90 people have infected ? Anybody with an answer ? I don't think so.

You tell me what you (not meant personally) would have said when YOUR child was infected with H1N1 Flu by someone else and would have died.....

Let me guess...? Maybe blame China ?

LaoPo

[cloudhopper]

An updated travel alert by the US State dept. received and excerpted -

China

July 09, 2009

The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the quarantine measures imposed by the Government of China in response to the 2009-H1N1 pandemic that may affect travel to China. This Travel Alert updates the June 19, 2009 Travel Alert in order to address the potential for quarantine of unaccompanied minors. This Travel Alert expires on September 30, 2009.

In May 2009, China implemented a policy that allows it to quarantine arriving passengers who exhibit fever or flu-like symptoms if they are arriving from a country which has cases of 2009-H1N1, including the U.S. Although the overall percentage of Americans being quarantined remains low, the seemingly random nature of the selection process makes it almost impossible to predict when a traveler may be placed into quarantine. Travelers with even a slightly elevated body temperature risk being placed into hospital quarantine, while passengers sitting in close proximity to another traveler with fever or flu-like symptoms may be taken to a specially-designated hotel for a quarantine of approximately seven days, even if they show no symptoms themselves.

The Department of State has received reports of minors traveling without a parent or adult guardian being taken into quarantine upon arrival. Some of the children were under 10 years of age. Parents considering sending their children unaccompanied to China are urged to consider postponing their travel until the quarantine policy ends or until 2009-H1N1 Influenza subsides. In addition, there have been some instances where children have been separated from their parents during quarantine because only the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 or exhibited symptoms. Travelers are advised that Chinese health authorities have not issued a country-wide policy on keeping family members together in quarantine, and the practice of keeping young children with their parents or guardians varies by quarantine facility. In some hospitals, parents have been denied access to their children who were in isolated quarantine. In these situations, there exists the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without parental permission.

The Department of State continues to receive reports about poor quarantine conditions, including the unavailability of suitable drinking water and food, unsanitary conditions, the lack of telephone access, the absence of English-speaking staff, and limited availability of English-language interpreters.

Travelers to China are reminded that all foreign travelers, including U.S. citizens, are obliged to follow local procedures regarding quarantines and any other public health-related measures. The U.S. Embassy is unable to influence the duration of stay in quarantine for affected travelers. The Chinese government will not compensate people for lost travel expenses. Travelers to China are urged to consider purchasing travel insurance to protect against losses in the event they are quarantined.