Boredom and rice fill swine flu quarantine hotel

EPIDEMICS

China bans pork imports from Alberta: govt
China has banned hog and pork product imports from the Canadian province of Alberta after pigs from a herd there tested positive for the swine flu virus, the Chinese government said. The decision was made in order to "protect the security of China's animal husbandry and the health of its people," the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its website late Sunday. The announcement came a day after Canadian health authorities said the influenza A(H1N1) virus had been found in a swine herd in Alberta. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency insisted that Canadian pork was still safe, and that the animals had likely contracted the disease from a Canadian who had recently returned from Mexico. China last week banned pork imports from Mexico and the US states of Texas, Kansas and California. China, the world's largest consumer of pork, has so far not reported any confirmed or even probable cases of swine flu. The World Health Organisation's representative in China said Monday that the measure was probably redundant, since the feared virus is not transmitted through pigs or pork products, but from human to human. "The risk through pork is not there, so it's probably a measure that is not making any difference or would have an effect," Hans Troedsson told AFP in an interview. "It's a diversion of attention from more important and more prioritised action which could be taken." The WHO and three other international organisations Saturday denounced boycotts of pork over fears the meat could be a means of spreading the A(H1N1) virus, saying there was no evidence it was a source of infection. "To date there is no evidence that the virus is transmitted by food," the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Trade Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health said in a statement.

by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) May 4, 2009
Claims of botched business deals and an endless diet of rice -- guests trapped inside the only hotel in the world quarantined because of swine flu are struggling through their seven-day ordeal.

Hong Kong's Metropark hotel has become a bizarre tourist attraction since it was sealed off on Friday following the discovery that a Mexican guest had tested positive for swine flu.

Passers-by grab pictures of the team of health workers coming and going from the four-star hotel in full protective gear -- unusual garb in a district better known for its strip bars.

But behind the police guards and the sealed doors, the monotony of seven days stuck in a hotel room was beginning to wear on some of the 300 guests and staff.

"Once you have had breakfast and washed, it is back to counting the spots and black marks on the wall again... before twiddling your thumbs," British businessman Leslie Carr told AFP. He was originally due to leave on Saturday.

Carr has filled the time by blogging about his lunch -- "the choice of rice, rice or more rice with a dash of pork, chicken leg" -- and has even posted videos from inside the hotel on video-sharing site YouTube.

One shows how he has used an extension cable as a makeshift washing line.

Others showed more signs of frustration.

One Korean businessman, who gave his name as "Jimmy", said he was losing out on a huge business contract because of the confinement.

"I am signing contract with (business partners). If I cannot go there (on Monday) the whole contract will be cancelled," he told local broadcaster RTHK.

"If I tell them I am in here, then they will never ever see me... I am a businessman. I don't want to die in this lousy hotel."

But despite the frustrations, some guests were enjoying the attention.

"Yesterday's routine was to surf the Internet, and take calls from French media for me and Belgian media for the two other occupants of the room," said French businessman Olivier Dolige via email.

"The time passes a bit more quickly as a result."

The city authorities have repeatedly thanked the guests for their understanding and said they have tried to make their stay as comfortable as possible.

They have also insisted the measure was the best chance of containing the disease after the Mexican stayed there for around seven hours on Thursday night before going to hospital.

The Mexican remains in a stable condition. There have been no other positive cases in the city.

Cleaning services in the hotel has been stepped up and Hong Kong's health secretary has sent each guest a box of chocolates to thank them for their patience, a government spokeswoman told AFP.

As for money, the cost of the room and expenses would be covered by the Hong Kong government.

"They would have been hard pushed to get a credit card out of me after this," said Carr.

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EPIDEMICS

Mexico sees epidemic easing

Mexico City (AFP) May 3, 2009
Mexico was increasingly optimistic Sunday its H1N1 flu epidemic was coming under control, after officials said stabilizing fatality figures suggested the virus was not as lethal as first feared.

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