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China denies discriminating against Mexicans
By: AFP
Published: 4/05/2009 at 07:56 PM
Beijing on Monday denied discriminating against Mexicans with its strict flu control measures, but quarantined travellers from Mexico questioned aggressive Chinese steps that have sparked a diplomatic spat.
Civil Aid Service workers stand guard at a checkpoint to a former holiday village now turned into a H1N1 quarantine centre in Hong Kong. Authorities in Hong Kong have quarantined 300 guests and staff in a city centre hotel over swine flu fears, as the Mexican man who travelled into China via Shanghai had briefly been a guest there.
"The relevant measures are not directed at Mexican citizens and are not discriminatory," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.
The statement came a day after Mexican diplomats complained bitterly to China, saying their countrymen had been placed under a seven-day quarantine despite showing no signs of swine flu.
The A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu, has killed a reported 23 people worldwide, 22 of those in Mexico, according to Mexican and World Health Organization (WHO) figures.
"There are other countries that are taking similar action like China, so I don't think China is standing out in this respect," the WHO's resident director in China Hans Troedsson told AFP in an interview.
He said the UN health body recommended that countries "take measures to try to prevent the spread" of the influenza A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu.
"There are many different measures and quarantine is one of them," he said.
A Mexican embassy official told AFP on Monday there were nearly 70 Mexicans quarantined across China, including in Beijing, Shanghai and the southern city of Guangzhou.
Some had travelled to China aboard the same flight that carried an infected Mexican man -- Asia's first confirmed swine flu case -- who is now in a Hong Kong hospital.
But the Mexican embassy says others arrived on planes from the United States and were quarantined solely because of their nationality.
Myrna Elisa Berlanga, 31, a Mexican tourist who arrived in China on Saturday, questioned why she was being quarantined since no one on her flight from the United States had the virus.
"Right now we are tired of being confined, not knowing what will happen with us," she told AFP by phone from the hotel near Beijing's airport where she and nine other Mexicans are being isolated.
"In my case, it's not the same. Nobody was infected on our plane, so I'm wondering why I have to stay seven days in quarantine."
Berlanga did not complain about conditions at the hotel but said they were forced to wait, and were unable to communicate with the Chinese staff who regularly checked their temperatures.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has called China's actions "unjustified" and warned Mexicans against visiting China.
A Mexican foreign ministry official in Mexico City said on Monday the government was sending a plane to pick up its nationals in China, but it was not immediately clear if that included the 70 in quarantine.
The official said only that the repatriation was "directed at all the Mexicans who want to return to Mexico".
China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma called for Mexico to be "objective and calm".
"China understands the Mexican side's concern for the rights and interests of its citizens in China and hopes Mexico can proceed from the overall standpoint of jointly addressing the epidemic situation," he said.
He called the situation "purely a medical quarantine issue".
Mexican Ambassador to China Jorge Guajardo complained to AFP on Sunday about the situation.
"The only country that we are aware of where (Mexican travellers) are being held in isolation is here in China, and that is something that concerns us very much," he said, as Chinese officials denied him access to the quarantined Mexicans.
Mexican embassy officials in China declined to comment to AFP on Monday.
Separately, a spokesman for China Southern Airlines told AFP the carrier had cancelled a charter flight that was to have fetched about 120 stranded Chinese citizens in Mexico.
However, the spokesman could not confirm whether Mexican anger over the quarantines was behind the cancellation.
"The cancellation was instructed by high-level (Chinese) officials," said the spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Health Officials Begin to Ease Public Alerts About Swine Flu
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/health/05flu.html?ref=asia
Mariachis in Mexico City took precautions against the flu over the weekend. Officials there said cases were leveling off.
By GARDINER HARRIS and ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: May 4, 2009
Closing schools once a student falls ill with swine flu may no longer be worth the toll on students and families, because the illness will soon be present almost everywhere in the country and few cases have been severe, federal health authorities said Monday.
“Closing schools is not effective” in halting the spread of the virus, said Dr. Richard E. Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new advice is part of a gradual easing of concerns over swine flu. While the disease has continued to spread across the United States and around the world, it is far less deadly than initially feared. And in Mexico, where the outbreak apparently had its origins, new cases have begun to ebb.
“So far, the severity of illness we’re seeing in this country is similar to what we’re seeing with seasonal flu,” Dr. Besser said. “While we’re not out of the woods, we are seeing some encouraging signs.”
The C.D.C. had advised local authorities to consider closing schools for two weeks after a student was confirmed to have swine flu, and hundreds of schools in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, New York and other states have been shut as a result.
The closings were intended not only to protect students but also to slow the spread of the virus, because schools can serve as viral transport hubs. But on Monday, the disease centers reported 279 confirmed cases of swine flu in 36 states — up from 226 in 30 states on Sunday — and more than 700 probable cases in 44 states.
With the virus almost everywhere, school closings will no longer have much effect. Only 35 people have been hospitalized with the virus.
Dr. Besser said that the C.D.C.’s new guidance for schools may be modeled on that of Seattle, where sick students are told to stay home and healthy ones are urged to wash their hands and cover their mouths with their sleeves when they sneeze.
In Mexico, officials said Monday that they would lower the public alert against the virus and allow most of the nation’s businesses to reopen this week. In Mexico City, where most of the nation’s 26 deaths from the virus and more than 700 infections have been recorded, restaurants will reopen on Wednesday. Churches and museums will reopen Thursday, but bars, nightclubs, cinemas and theaters will remain closed until further notice, The Associated Press reported.
The Mexican health minister, José Ángel Córdova, said that this new strain of influenza A(H1N1) appeared only slightly more contagious than the seasonal flu. The number of new cases is declining in Mexico, he said, and no deaths have been reported since Wednesday.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that it had counted 1,085 confirmed cases in 21 countries.
Gardiner Harris reported from New York, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City. Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York.
Swine flu - prevention and treatment
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Swineflu/DG_177814
Published: Monday, 4 May 2009
There are a number of steps you can take to reduce the risk of getting flu and help stop the spread of the virus.
Prevention
To reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus you should:
•cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, using a tissue
•throw the tissue away quickly and carefully
•wash your hands regularly with soap and water
•clean hard surfaces (like door handles and remote controls) frequently with a normal cleaning product
Preparation
You can prepare now for a possible pandemic:
•always carry tissues - catching the germs in a tissue could help limit the spread of the virus
•know your NHS number (this will be in NHS letters or prescriptions)
•keep up to date with the latest help and advice available through radio, TV and the internet – follow the links below for more advice on Directgov
•confirm your ‘flu friends’ - these are friends and neighbours who can help you if you become ill; they could get your medication or food for you so that you don’t have to leave the house - this will help stop the virus from spreading
•have a two-week stock of food and other supplies in case you and your family are ill
If you have the flu
Catching swine flu, or influenza A (H1N1), will feel like seasonal flu, so:
•stay at home and rest
•take medicines like aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol (following the instructions – children under 16 should not be given aspirin or ready made flu remedies)
•drink plenty of fluids
•check your symptoms by following the link below to the NHS symptoms checker site
When to contact the doctor
Call the swine flu information line on 0800 1 513 513 to hear the latest advice.
If you are still concerned, you can call:
•NHS Direct on 0845 4647 in England
•NHS 24 on 08454 24 24 24 in Scotland
•NHS Direct Wales on 0845 4647 in Wales
•0800 0514 142 in Northern Ireland
They will give you advice on your symptoms and the next steps you should take.
Contact your doctor if you develop complications, like a shortness of breath - but don't go to the surgery yourself, ask your ‘flu friend’ to go for you.
Medication
Vaccines are used to help fight seasonal flu but a vaccine for this strain of swine flu will take time to create. Antiviral drugs can help:
Antiviral drugs
Antiviral drugs work by preventing the flu virus from reproducing - to be effective you need to take them within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. This means the illness may be shortened by a day and reduce the risk of complications. Read the section above, ‘if you have the flu’ before contacting your doctor about antiviral drugs.
My reaction: many countries and a lot of people are anxious about swine flu that contagion in many continent.
1. China has a high policy to again with Swine flu
2. China has quarantined 3oo guests and staffs in a city centre hotel over swine flu fears, as the Mexican man who traveled into China via Shanghai had briefly been a guest there.
3. The swine flu or the A(H1n1) has killed 23 people worldwide, 22 of all are in Mexico.
4. Mexico warns their people to against visiting in China after many Mexican violate human right.
5. The C.D.C. had advised local authorities to consider closing schools for two weeks in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, New York and other states have been shut as a result.
6. The aim of closing are protect many students and also slow the spread of the virus
7. In Mexico, restaurants, churches and museums will reopen but bars, nightclubs, cinemas and theaters will remain closed until further notice.
8. The World Health Organization reports on Monday that it had counted 1,085 confirmed cases in 21 countries.
9. The prevention of swine flu are cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, using a tissue also wash your hands regularly with soap and water
10. You can call the swine flu information line on 0800 1 513 513 to hear the latest advice.
11. Swine flu has antiviral drugs to prevent the flu virus but you need take them within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.
Conclusion:
In China, it has a high policy to prevent swine flu such as quarantined travelers from Mexico and also take questioned aggressive Chinese steps that have violate human right. Moreover, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has called China's actions "unjustified" and warned Mexicans against visiting China.
On the other hand, Mexico announce the plan to prevent swine flu about close many school to protect their children and also slow the spread of the virus but restaurants, churches and museums will open.
So, everyone can prevent swine flu by cover your mouth and take care their heath also you can contact the swine flu information line to understand more about swine flu.
