UPDATE:  If no one shows symptoms, we will be released at 1:30 am on Saturday May 16th, 7 days after flight NWA029 arrived in China

It seems that I am one of the unlucky ones to be on Flight NW029 to Beijing over the weekend. I am on the Research Faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park, and over here in China to give talks at Tsinghua University, The Chinese Academy of Science and Wuhan University.

I received a knock on my door at 5am this morning at the Marriott in Beijing, asking me to come with the Ministry of Heath because of the Swine Flu outbreak. Apparently this is now all over the news in China, but someone from our flight has a confirmed (?) case. Although the plane was examined at the airport, and no one showed symptoms, apparently the symptoms showed up later. They moved everyone to the Beijing Guo Men Lu hotel, and said we may need to stay up to 7 days!

The accommodations are reasonable but basic, and probably average by Chinese standards, but definitely third class by other standards. Of course all of the vents are closed so no ventilation and we can not really go anywhere. We are free to roam the grounds, weaning a mask. Luckily there is internet access, but since my Chinese is less then perfect, it is difficult to communicate. I had met a couple from Toronto here on their 40^th anniversary, a couple here to pick up a baby… and women from Kenya who was here on business, so there are some people that speak English. Attached are some pictures outside of my hotel room.

I suppose it is just a precaution, but it seems like the reaction is much greater over here, at least greater then what I had observed in the US. There were flight questionnaires, and the use of Thermal cameras on board in Japan. I guess I will learn a lot more from the internet in the next couple of days.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/conditions/05/11/china.flu/index.html