KBS is reporting that six American English teachers have been confirmed with the swine flu, and seven others who lived in the same housing are showing suspicious symptoms. Three Korean youngsters returning from New York are also showing suspicious symptoms.
The English teachers in question, recruited by a hagwon in Seoul, are believed to have been infected while they were undergoing training from May 18 to 22, acting as a team and living in the same place. Another seven teachers with high fevers and runny noses are undergoing tests.
In particular, the teachers enjoyed individual free time when their training hours ended, leading to fears of secondary transmissions.
Meanwhile, the children of a family returning from New York on Sunday morning are being isolated at a hospital as presumed cases — the ages of the children are eight, four and two. Health authorities are looking for other passengers on the same flight.
If these children and the seven English teachers are confirmed cases, it would raise the number of swine flu cases in Korea to 20.
UPDATE: Brian and Roboseyo link to some blogs done by the quarantined Americans themselves.
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The one guy has a blog. http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/05/english-teachers-quarantined-for-swine.html
This could be bad for small hagwons if outbreaks occur–I know for a fact that one case would put our school under, considering the paranoia our students’ parents display.
Looks like there are two blogs going so far:
http://underquarantine.tumblr.com/
http://therubycanary.wordpress.com/
I, too, wonder what this will mean for these week-long orientation sessions, and wonder if schools will turn to teachers not from the US for the time being.
Can I get swine flu by reading those blogs?
Of course it’s going to spread, like any flu will spread. Fortunately, it’s no dangerous than any other flu. In Taiwan just about everyone in the international airport is wearing masks, including the flight attendants on the airplane. You also have to pass through a body temperature scanning device which checks for fever. All for basically the common flu.
In any case, I thought kimchee was praised for protecting Koreans from getting bird flu the last time around. Those foreigners have only themselves to blame for not acclimating faster and wolfing down enough kimchee in time. That should be the first part of any training exercise. And what’s with the training exercise anyway? Everyone knows that foreigners should be taken immediately from the plane to the class room – it’s a time honored practice.
I don’t know it, but here’s a rumor:
It’s Lee et al’s conspiracy. Lee et al do not want to peoples’s gathering and took the chance of swine flu. Swine flu is a good excuse to hold down the demonstrations.
To evade confusion,
That is, this government knew some outbreak of swine flu or had some flu candidates quarantined to confirm this disease; it may not have been any connection with people’s gathering. This government or officials did not go this informatin public for reasons. Roh’s death occurred; people will gather to go him out. Lee et al take this chance of swine flu or fake swine flu and make this news. Swine flu alarm broke out all of a sudden with thick letters after Roh’s death.
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=020&aid=0002049934
This article was input at 2009-05-23 03:13 and modified at 2009-05-23 17:58. Title is 〈Swine flu infection, Japan 200 persons; Korea 4 persons. Why is this..?〉
✿⊹⊱⋛☃⋚⊰⊹✿,
Why is it that some people will eagerly believe any conspiracy theory about Lee but won’t question the grand-daddy of South Korean government lies, fan death? LOL
Those rumors are clearly agitprop. Don’t pay so much attention to the fifth columnist/internet conspiracies, and remember that in a democracy you get the government you deserve.
I watched the news yesterday. No mention of the many Koreans in the facility (probably there because they came in contact with the Korean lady who showed symptoms earlier last week while returning from trip in the US).
“This government or officials did not go this informatin public for reasons. ”
Look at the dates.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/05/113_45075.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/07/content_11326639.htm
@SomeguyinKorea
No. Of course, a few cases were reported as Dong-A Ilbo writes at AM 3:13 on the date of May 23, 2009, titled 〈Swine flu infection, Japan 200 persons; Korea 4 persons. Why is this..?〉But, news abruptly increased with alarm and the infected numbers were also abruptly went up.
✿⊹⊱⋛☃⋚⊰⊹✿, your paranoia is starting to sound positively Chinese.
If the Korean Government were as wicked as the CCP, I would agree with you, however a disease sometimes pursues its own agenda, regardless of our own concerns.
A friend of mine who works for EPIK got an email this afternoon saying:
“This is to let you know that ALL foreign teachers who enter the country after May 11, 2009 are required to do a home quarantine for 7 days before returning to school.
During the quarantine, you are required to stay home and wear a mask if leaving the house temporarily to run errands such as grocery shopping. At the end of the 7 day quarantine, you must visit a public health clinic for a final checkup.”
Some more updates: http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/05/some-updates-on-english-teachers.html
This is shaping up to be a pretty big deal.
“In particular, the teachers enjoyed individual free time when their training hours ended, leading to fears of secondary transmissions.”
And what happened to the Korean staff at the training facility? Shouldn’t they also be quarantined?
…Apparently, they a now being quarantined.
BTW,
Only one death in Canada, 11 in the US. Regular flu as killed several thousand people in the US alone this year. Overblown, may?
…be?
Attach an animal name to an everyday ailment, and it suddenly becomes A Plague O’ Death Incarnate.
apparently, as of this afternoon, all CDI schools have now closed for 9 days and all teachers are under self-imposed home quarantine. They are discouraged to leave home or travel anywhere and they have to submit their body temperatures twice a day to the head teacher to monitor for any symptoms.
Between this an the Nork nukes, it ought to be pretty hard for a large part of the ROK public to get all worked up about Roh’s encounter with gravity.
I’ll correct the above news title to 〈Swine flu infection, Japan 281 persons; Korea 4 persons. Why is this..?〉
And here’s a search result done at news portal, http://www.law4u.net/blog/?winnie.295. You see, news about swine-flu incedents in Korea abruptly increased after 8 AM.
The news SomeguyinKorea linked also write that all were released before except the most recent one.
@R. Elgin:
Naive? How to process this event, of course not the virus nor the disease is determined by human being, of course not the virus nor the disease.
Ok, in the afternoon of May 25.
“I’ll correct the above news title to 〈Swine flu infection, Japan 281 persons; Korea 4 persons. Why is this..?〉”
probably because the number of people with swine flu and the number of people tested and confirmed to have swine flu is always going to be different. the number of people reported to have swine flu might be a third number, as well.
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