My Reaction
As swine flu spreads, but not rages, therefore seems to be no lack of reaction by the authorities of both affected and non-affected countries. In the case of mainland china with its 1,200,000,000 people, it is essential that the virus is kept out of china that explains why the Hong Kong authorities were extremely to quarantine the virus that came in from Mexico. The Mexican traveler was immediately taken away, the whole hotel including all its guests was cordoned off and no contact with the outside world was allowed. Even the 50 hotel guests who were staying there, were tracked down by the police and put into quarantine.
While this may seem like an overreaction, on second thought it is not. The risk of the swine flu spreading like wildfire allover china is simply too realistic to ignore. Hong Kong authorities made the right decision to act cautiously and make sure that there was no chance for the virus to spread. It needs to be mentioned that the infected Mexican traveler did not die. There is a feeling of sympathy for the traveler who are still quarantined in the Metropark hotel (where the Mexican stayed); as the number of traveler is as high as 240. However, considering the millions of people who could be affected in case of carelessness, then the number of 240 hotel guests, who are inconvenienced, is not too much of a sacrifice to make. There have been reports of hotel guests becoming enraged about their forced stay at the hotel; this quite understandable but the well being of millions of Chinese citizens is more important than a temporary convenience caused to 240 guests.
Even though china has suspended its flight from Shanghai to Mexico, there is concern that the infected Mexican held in Hong Kong, has spread the virus to people in Shanghai, where he stayed before flying to Hong Kong. Health officials in the Chinese province of Guang Dong, which is right near Hong Kong, are working around the clock to prevent the spreading of the virus, though no infected persons have been found three yet. The cases in South Korea (2), have further alarmed the Chinese authorities. The Korean case concerns a nun who has visited Mexico, and was diagnosed with the virus, as well as the person who went to pick her up at the airport. This has sent shockwaves all over South Korea. Though no infections have been confirmed in Taiwan and Singapore, both countries have been on a high level of alert to stop infected traveler from entering their nations. Strict measures are typical for Singapore, so it is no surprise that the Singapore authorities will quarantine any incoming travelers from Mexico for seven days. This is definitely the right approach as the alternative (meaning: millions of worldwide infections) is simply too horrible to think about.
The interesting point of the swine flu virus is that the infection seems to have a different effect on those victims in Mexico, and those in the USA. The number of fatalities in Mexico is considerably higher, whereas in the USA the infected people only have mild symptoms and the number of fatalities is only 2 deaths. In Mexico, so far 177 people have died. The percentage of deaths compared to the number of infected people is much higher in Mexico than in the USA. It can be concluded from this information that the virus type in Mexico is much more powerful than that in the USA. What should worry most readers is that medical experts have no explanation for this phenomenon. In spite of all the medical advances, this difference in percentage of deaths between Mexico and the USA is still unexplained. The preventing measures to stop the spreading of the virus are in place, though the medical world must be surprised about the nature of this virus, which is an animal-human hybrid virus. Hopes for a quick production of a vaccine are small, because it well take another 3 months for a vaccine to be produced, and another two years to manufacture enough stocks for the whole world to be vaccinated.
A local conference will be held here in Thailand next week, and all ASEAN countries will send representatives to this conference. Thai authorities’ efforts to prevent the disease from entering and spreading in Thailand have so far been effective one woman entering Thailand was first thought to have the virus, but she was misdiagnosed.
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