BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- With the influenza A/H1N1
already spreading to more than 20 countries and regions, China is taking swift
actions to keep the deadly virus at bay, while both the world health body and
the country itself have defended the strict quarantine policies the government
has adopted.
Passengers of T98 train go through
customs at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, May
5, 2009. T98 train connecting Kowloon and Beijing arrived here Tuesday.
This was the first arrival of a train from Hong Kong in Beijing since the
first human influenza A/H1N1 case was confirmed in Hong Kong, south China,
on May 1. (Xinhua/Gao Xueyu) Photo Gallery>>>
CABINET DECISION
The country will continue to impose strict medical
examinations and follow-up checks on travelers from flu-affected countries and
regions to prevent influenza A/H1N1, the State Council (cabinet) said here
Tuesday.
Vehicles and cargo from flu-affected countries and
regions will be disinfected, it said in a statement after a meeting presided
over by Premier Wen Jiabao.
The central government will allot 5 billion yuan (725
million U.S. dollars) for flu prevention and control, it said.
The government will also step up research of vaccines
and medicines, including alternative treatments of traditional Chinese medicine,
according to the statement.
The mainland will cooperate with Hong Kong, Macao and
Taiwan, and China will provide financial and technical support for countries and
regions that need assistance, the statement said.
The agriculture authorities would tighten monitoring
of pig farms, slaughterhouses and livestock markets, it said.
CANADIAN STUDENTS QUARANTINED
China defended on Tuesday its quarantine of 25
Canadian students in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, saying
it was in accordance with law and the Canadians had assented to it.
Mexicans board a chartered plane in
Shanghai, east China, May 5, 2009. A Mexican chartered plane carried 43
quarantined Mexicans and 34 others back to Mexico Tuesday. Those on the
plane included 43 crew members and passengers on board the AM098 and 34
others who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine. The
passengers were quarantined after one Mexican passenger was diagnosed with
the influenza A/H1N1 on board flight AM098 from Mexico to Shanghai. Other
six Mexican passengers volunteered to stay in the city and live under
quarantine. (Xinhua/Pei Xin) Photo Gallery>>>
The students began a seven-day quarantine period at a
hotel on May 2 when they arrived, the same day that Canada confirmed 51 cases of
A/H1N1 epidemic infection, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.
Canada has recorded up to 140 cases of A/H1N1 flu by
Tuesday, the third-highest figure following Mexico and the United States.
Ma said the quarantine was in line with the Law on
the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases and Frontier Health and
Quarantine Law of China.
The students were being well treated, and the
authorities had made favorable arrangements for their residence, food and health
care.
None of the students showed any signs of illness and
they were satisfied with the situation, said Ma.
The local government had informed the Canadian
embassy in China of the quarantine on May 3, and the two countries had been in
close contact regarding the virus, he said.
Ambulances carrying Mexican nationals
head for the Pudong international airport in Shanghai, east China, May 5,
2009. A Mexican chartered plane carried 43 quarantined Mexicans and 34
others back to Mexico Tuesday. Those on the plane included 43 crew members
and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others who worked and lived in
China but were not under quarantine. The passengers were quarantined after
one Mexican passenger was diagnosed with the influenza A/H1N1 on board
flight AM098 from Mexico to Shanghai. Other six Mexican passengers
volunteered to stay in the city and live under quarantine. (Xinhua/Pei
Xin) Photo
Gallery>>>
CHARTERED FLIGHTS BETWEEN
CHINA, MEXICO
A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early
Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took
off from international airport Benito Juarez at about 3:05 a.m. local time (0805
GMT), heading towards Tijuana, northern city on the U.S.-Mexico border, to lift
20 more Chinese before returning to China.
But due to bad weather, the had to land in Los
Angeles, the flight operator said. The plane landed in Los Angeles at around
9p.m. (6 a.m. local time, 1300 GMT), China Southern Airlines said, adding it
depends on the weather as to when the plane will leave for Tijuana.
China sent the chartered flight after an agreement
with Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak, to send chartered flights
to each other's countries to bring back their stranded nationals.
The aircraft Boeing 777-200 is expected to return to
Shanghai at 10 a.m. Wednesday local time (0200 GMT), its operator
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines said.
China suspended direct flights from Mexico to Shanghai since Saturday after a 25-year-old Mexican man, who arrived in Shanghai Thursday aboard flight Aeromexico 098, was later diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu in Hong Kong.
A medical staff member walks past ambulances carrying Mexican nationals in Shanghai, east China, May 5, 2009. A Mexican chartered plane carried 43 quarantined Mexicans and 34 others back to Mexico Tuesday. Those on the plane included 43 crew members and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine. The passengers were quarantined after one Mexican passenger was diagnosed with the influenza A/H1N1 on board flight AM098 from Mexico to Shanghai. Other six Mexican passengers volunteered to stay in the city and live under quarantine. (Xinhua/Pei Xin) Photo Gallery>>>
Also on Tuesday, a Mexican chartered plane arrived at
the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Tuesday to pick up the quarantined
Mexicans who had been on the same flight with the victim.
Andres Pena, vice consul-general of Mexico in
Shanghai, said those who got on the plane included 43 crew and passengers on
board the AM098 and 34 others, who worked and lived in China but were not under
quarantine.
WHO DEFENDING QUARANTINE
The Mexican government on Monday complained China's
decision to quarantine the Mexican nationals in China.
However, World Health Organization (WHO) flu chief
Keiji Fukudasaid quarantines were a "long-established principle" that make sense
in the early phases of an outbreak.
"There are other countries that are taking similar
actions like China, so I don't think China is standing out in this respect,"
said Dr. Hans Troedsson, WHO representative in China.
Wen Li, a Chinese citizen, who is under quarantine in
Beijing, said she was called by disease control staff at midnight on Saturday to
be placed under quarantine because she was a passenger on the AM098 flight.
"I think the quarantine is necessary and responsible
for everybody, regardless of nationality," said the woman, adding that her
quarantine is expected to end Wednesday evening or Thursday.
MASKS IN STRONG DEMAND
The ongoing worldwide A/H1N1 flu scare has led to
strong demand for masks at the ongoing 105th China Import and Export Fair, also
Canton Fair.
"Customers came to our booth, putting their hands on
mouth to signal that they want to buy masks. There are so many customers that we
are running out of stock," said Li Yan, saleswoman of Conghua Puyuan Health
Articles Factory in southern China's Guangdong Province, Tuesday.
Business people from across the world gathered at
booths selling medicine and health material at the fair. It was even more
crowded at booths selling masks and thermometers.
Fuzelong, a Guangzhou-based medical material company,
said they have won orders for 3 million masks over the past three days, compared
with no more than 500,000 masks during previous fairs.
The traditional Chinese medicine, which doctors say
will help protect people from flu virus, also drew attention. Qi Haidong,
manager of a Guangzhou-based pharmaceutical company, said the Chinese herbal
medicine for treating colds Radix Isatidis sold well.
MAN NABBED FOR SELLING
FAKE DRUG
There are other people who want to cash in on
people's fear over the killer flu. Chinese border police Tuesday arrested a man
for selling fake influenza A/H1N1 medicine to foreign ship crews in Shanghai.
The man, a rural migrant worker from central China's
Hunan Province was found to have sold so called "miracle" medicine to foreign
crews at the Shanghai port.
If any foreign crew members showed flu symptoms, they
should see doctors rather than believe some so-called "miracle" medicine, police
said.
BEIJING, May 5
(Xinhua) -- China defended on Tuesday its quarantine of 25 Canadian students in
Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, saying it was in accordance
with law and the Canadians had assented to it.
The students began a seven-day quarantine period at a
hotel on May 2 when they arrived, the same day that Canada confirmed 51 cases of
A/H1N1 epidemic infection, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu. Full story
MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 79
Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent
by the Chinese government.
The plane took off from international airport Benito
Juarez at about 3:05 a.m. local time (0805 GMT), heading towards Tijuana,
northern city on the U.S.-Mexico border, to lift 20 more Chinese before
returning to China. Full story
BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China's temporary
bans on the imports of pigs and pork products from some regions hit by the
A-strain influenza are in line with the rules of the World Trade Organizations
(WTO), Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said here Tuesday.
China's emergency measures, to safeguard its stock
industry and human health from the A/H1N1 virus, are also in accordance with the
rules of the World Organization for Animal Health, Ma told a regular press
conference. Full story
BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Quarantined Chinese citizens
said Tuesday that they understand the medical measures taken to prevent the
spread of influenza A/H1N1, despite the boredom of isolation.
"Quarantine is boring, but easy. We watch TV and read
newspapers to kill time," said a woman surnamed Wen, who is under the seven-day
quarantine period at a hotel in Beijing after returning from Mexico. Full story
BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice-Premier
Li Keqiang on Monday vowed to keep the worsening global epidemic of influenza
A/H1N1 out of China's border, while the same day the government sent a chartered
plane to Mexico to pick up around 200 stranded Chinese nationals.
"The most important work at present was to strictly check
on border entry" as the killer disease has been mainly reported overseas, Li
gave the direction during a visit to the Ministry of Health. Full story
MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A chartered flight from
China arrived early Tuesday in Mexico City to bring back some 99 nationals
stranded in Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak.
The aircraft Boeing 777-200 arrived at about 1:50 a.m.
(0750 GMT) early Tuesday at international airport Benito Juarez to lift 79
Chinese citizens stranded in the capital. Full story
BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday
defended its medical quarantine of some passengers who had traveled on the same
flight with a Mexican man who was infected with influenza A/H1N1.
"The measures concerned are not targeted at Mexican
citizens and there is no discrimination," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma
Zhaoxu in a press release. Full story
