Those put into quarantine by Chinese authorities after allegedly coming into close contact with the A/H1N1 virus had been well treated and showed no flu symptoms as of Monday noon in Beijing, Shanghai and Liaoning Province, local officials said Monday afternoon.
The 20 quarantined in Beijing including 10 Mexicans, had been well served under medical observation, said Deng Xiaohong, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.
Chen said all these people had close contact with A/H1N1 flu virus and had been quarantined over the weekend.
They had been put in the best rooms and flowers and fruits had been sent to their rooms every day, Deng said.
Food was served in their rooms and the menus had been made in both Chinese and English. Western-style chefs had been sent for the Mexicans, Deng said.
The building's air-conditioning had been turned off to avoid the possibility of the virus spreading while electric fans had been offered as the temperature in Beijing is rising, she said.
"A Mexican family with five members were transferred to a suite of rooms, including a double bed for the couple," Deng said. A Mexican child had been given gifts including a Barbie doll and puzzles. Computers and DVD players with English systems had been offered.
"The Mexicans said they were grateful for our work. They said they feel it was understandable to be quarantined as it was a necessary method to avoid the spread of virus." Deng said.
In Shanghai, the 69 people aboard the same flight with a Mexican A/H1N1 patient had been quarantined in a four-star hotel with a sea view, said Chen Xiaoling, director of the Center of Disease Control in Nanhui District, Shanghai.
The quarantined, including 13 flight crew, 28 Mexican and 28 Chinese passengers, were all quarantined separately, except for a Mexican couple on honeymoon, Chen said.
Two doctors, three nurses and some other medical workers had been sent to the hotel, Chen told Xinhua on Monday afternoon.
All the quarantined receive medical examinations twice a day. They can contact people outside, watch television, listen to music, read books or surf the Internet, she said.
In Liaoning Province in northeast China, a further two people who had taken the same flight, Thursday's Aeromexico 098 from Mexico City to Shanghai, with the Mexican patient, had been quarantined "with good living conditions," said Wang Tianyu, assistant director of Liaoning Provincial Health Department. In addition, five of their family members had also been quarantined.
The two are colleagues and were sent to Mexico on April 16 by their company on business, Wang said.
"A nutritious and delicious diet had been offered for them every day," Wang said.
None of the passengers quarantined had shown flu symptoms as of Sunday noon, China's health ministry said.
There were 176 people and 13 crew members on the flight. Of these 56 disembarked in Shanghai, 41 caught a connecting flight to Guangzhou, 17 transferred to Beijing, and two were refused entry to China. That accounts for 116 of the passengers, some of whom --including the Mexican male -- flew on to Hong Kong, taking China Eastern Airlines flight MU505.
The Mexican was put into quarantine in the Metropark Hotel, in Hong Kong, said the Special Administrative Region's Health Department.
All those were quarantined on the orders of China's Health Ministry.
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2009)
