BEIJING, May 9 -- Two hundred and eighty-six people emerged from Hong Kong's Metropark Hotel in Wanchai late Friday after health authorities lifted a seven-day quarantine order.

    The order was imposed on the building after a 25-year-old Mexican guest was confirmed to have influenza A/H1N1 on May 1.

    Soundbite: Sunhao, Xinhua reporter At 8:30 p.m., the door of Metropark Hotel in Wanchai opened as scheduled . The 286 confined staff and guests had showed no symptoms of the flu virus. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang also expressed his thanks here for the understanding and cooperation of the quarantined.

    Special buses were arranged to send the quarantined guests to the airport, other hotels and home.

    Soundbite: a confined tourist (How do you feel now?) The arrangement was nice.

    Soundbite: a confined tourist Very excited, very happy. (How do you like the government's arrangents?) Not bad.

    Tsang came to the hotel to thank the quarantined guests and personnel who worked for the quarantine period.

    Soundbite: Donald Tsang We do not have an alternative but to isolate these people to ward off the spread of the virus. We understand their suffering and anxiety when confined to an area. We are thankful that most people understand us. I was so much moved when I saw on screen the banner "I love Hong Kong" lifted by them. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government and I would like to express our sincere thanks to these people.

    Sixty-one people who were transferred from the hotel to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village were also discharged.

    More than 300 people were isolated when the Mexican tourist was confirmed to have affected the flu virus.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hong Kong.

    (Source: XHTV)

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