Facing swine flu scrutiny
China is taking the H1N1 threat pretty seriously. Arriving at Beijing's airport right now is a bit like turning up at a laboratory.
I've just come back to Beijing following a few days in the UK. As our flight came in to land, the cabin crew handed out H1N1 health forms issued by China. These forms asked us to list our seat number and our contact numbers in Beijing. We also had to answer the question: "Have you had close contact with pigs within the past week?"
When we landed, we were told to stay in our seats. A team of Chinese health inspectors wearing masks then boarded the plane. The inspectors proceeded slowly down each row, pointing what I can only describe as a temperature gun at each passenger's forehead (we made their jobs easier by politely tilting our foreheads to the inspectors as they went by).
A few minutes later, the inspectors escorted one passenger in an orange t-shirt off the plane. He looked pretty embarrassed.
Inside the airport terminal, we passed through a further two checkpoints staffed by guards checking for anyone with a fever.
Leaflets warned us: "It is the responsibility of every citizen to self-monitor at home for seven days after coming back from abroad."
In case that man with the orange t-shirt is diagnosed with H1N1, the Health Ministry has enough information to track us all down and put us all into quarantine for a week.
I’m 
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This report is objective, good work James!
And, thank you for being polite and cooperative in the inspection process. Wish the flu can come to an end soon.
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So this is pretty much an admission from the CCP that SARS was handled appalingly.
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i feel that if chinese government didn't make some measures to prevent the flu, westerners can also find something to say. So it's better to be serious than doing nothing. if it scared you , maybe chinese government should say sorry for the inconvience to the travellers as hongkong government did. However, travellers should fully understand that it is good for everybody.
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That is pretty silly I have to say. it seems chinese government finally found a better way to control the citizen, by fear. This must be borrowed from west. Shame.
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I really wish stronger controls were effected on the metro here every morning: every day I sit or stand in a carriage filled with more than a hundred people either coughing or sneezing, or both. There is not any effort to cover nose/mouth with hand or handkerchief, but instead the viruses get nicely spread around everyone. My employers frequently complain that the commuters in our office are ill - I think the reason is obvious!
Just on Wednesday I saw something that made me laugh: A young lady wearing a face mask. I thought to myself "At last! A responsible fellow citizen!" But no, a few moments later she slipped off the face mask, sneezed violently into the air and slipped the mask back over her mouth and nose. Baffling.
Nonetheless, it is good to see this approach in airports, and while it will inconvenience passengers, it is hard not to argue that the steps are necessary.
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I actually appreciate the seriousness of Chinese health authority with regards to the H1N1 virus. China is a heavily populated country. Virus such as this one will spread quickly if no effective control is implemented. People who are complaining about the inconvenience of all the safety procedures can only be called selfish. People who are currently infected with the virus without knowing it will also benefit from these tests and procedures, since early detection is always beneficial. Well Done.
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The Chinese government obviously had learn plenty from previous outbreaks.
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You must be joking shanghai2010, mustn't you? If you are so afraid of virus why not stop breathing all together, or quanrentine yourself. The world is full of virus. It is just life.
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A friend,who as been in the U.S. went home to visit her parents in Xinjiang. Her father did not let her leave the house or have visitors for five days and told her this was his social responsiblity. The H1N1 and H1N5 always have the potential to mutate and become a potential danger on a global scale. If everyone took such actions the threats of pandemics would be greatly reduced. As seen with the H1N1 the spread across the globe was rapid and is still spreading. Public health is a primary responsibility of government, I think these actions are prudent and necessary. In high density cities a major outbreak would be difficult to control. As they say in the U.S. "better safe than sorry."
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"Have you had close contact with pigs within the past week?"
I went to Beijing a couple of weeks ago, it was actually: "Have you had close contact with pig within the past 1 week". Maybe they were informed by a spelling/grammar critic.
I had one check in the airport. Not three like you. And flew BA.
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This is bid an over reaction. there is so many other ways you can check on pessenger whether he has flu or not. pointing a gun like instrument on each pessenger is way too much and not a friendly like treatment.
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Since SARS started inside China, and the H1N1 influenza virus started outside China, I am not surprised at the difference in response to the two diseases! I doubt if these measures alone will be enough to prevent the spread of the virus inside China, after all they are only looking for people who may currently have the symptoms of the disease.
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What a load of rubbish this swine flu is - its not even close to normal seasonal flu in its strength
Now maybe its going to mutate and hit hard later in the year or, they got it wrong in the labs where it was produced.
Or,it was released to see how it would develop.
But right now - HUMBUG !
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Chinese government has its own way of doing thing that they believe is standard regardless of what other think about it; an inspiration they draw from "socialism with Chinese characteristic". After all they vantage point of number. I only hope that the authority there will not take it too far and make it inconvenient for others and leave them with a sense of being under constant scrutiny.
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My post #13 quoted the comment of Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, on how China responded to the swine flu outbreak.
How has it broken the House Rules?
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(Obs...Lost the first one in the process of sending, rewriting again)
Chinese authority has its own way of doing thing which they call as the standard way of doing it regardless of other existing norms other world community think about it; an inspiration they draw from "socialism with Chinese characteristic". After all, they have number and know how to play the number game well.
Here in this case, i hope the authority won't take it too far to such an extent that it cause inconvenient to others while leaving them with a sense of hijacked privacy. Or, serve it as another pretext to bulldoze people's basis rights.
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