"I just phoned my parents thousands of kilometers away in eastern Fujian Province to tell them I'm well," said Zhou Chengzu, a college student in Beijing who is under quarantine as part of the battle against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
"I and another 300-plus schoolmates in the dormitory compound are not allowed to go outside and the college staff bring us meals and fruits every day," the freshman at Northern Jiaotong University said.
Seventeen SARS cases were found in the building before it was sealed off on Thursday afternoon.
"The isolated life here is a little bit dull since our freedom of movement is restricted. But, fortunately, there is a small sports field behind the building which is also under quarantine. We can play soccer, basketball, badminton and do other exercise there," said Zhou.
He said they were asked to take their temperature twice a day and his dormitory was also sterilized daily. No new SARS cases have been reported since the building was quarantined.
"It seems that the quarantine will not be lifted until May 10. I have to adapt myself to an isolated life I have never experienced before. After all, the quarantine order is a responsible one and protects our and other people's health," said Zhou.
Nearly 8,000 have been isolated in the capital city of 13 million, as part of the government's increasingly drastic measures to curb the spread of the deadly disease.
Apart from Zhou's university, quarantine measures were also in force at a residential quarter of the People's Hospital, a residential building of the Central University of Finance and Economics, and two dormitory buildings in Beijing Science and Technology Research Institute.
A construction site in Beijing's Dongcheng district was also isolated.
Telephone calls, flowers and fresh fruit from relatives and the public at large have poured into the quarantined buildings.
"Despite being quarantined, we continue to feel at ease and connected closely to society," said a man surnamed Jiang.
Jiang and his wife, as well as 37 other families, are quarantined in a residential building of the Central University of Finance and Economics which was sealed off on April 24.
According to an official at the Beixiaguan Subdistrict Office responsible for the quarantined building, residents there understood the need for the isolation order and co-operated with it.
"Let's unite and overcome this hardship," a banner at the building says.
(China Daily April 29, 2003)
