Chengdu on high alert after 1st confirmed flu case

(China Daily/CFP/Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-12 10:59

A woman wearing a protective facemask waits to board a flight at Shuangliu Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, May 11, 2009. China has announced Monday the first confirmed case of swine flu on the mainland -- a man in Sichuan province recently returned from the United States. [CFP]

People in Chengdu have stepped up vigilance after the mainland's first A(H1N1) case was confirmed in the city Monday.

When Xie Xiaoli, a young teacher in Paotongshu Primary School in the center of Chengdu, entered her classroom Monday to oversee lunch for her students, they had a good laugh at the way she looked.

"She donned a large mask," said Huang Leran, one of Xie's 50 students in Class 1, Grade 1.

Xie told China Daily that all teachers in primary schools in Chengdu have been asked to wear masks from now on when preparing food as a precaution against the A(H1N1) flu strain.

According to Yang Wei, chief of the city's bureau of health, all staff at city schools that offer lunch to students have been asked to wear masks.

A health worker sprays disinfectant on trolleys at Shuangliu Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, May 11, 2009. The airport starts to spray disinfectant on public areas at the airport after China confirmed its first case of H1N1 flu on the mainland in Sichuan. [CFP]

Although they must now wear masks, none of the teachers was concerned that the flu posed a significant risk, Xie said, adding they were satisfied with the government's response.

Soon after the man was diagnosed as a suspected carrier of the virus on Sunday, the Sichuan provincial government and Chengdu municipal government started the emergency response programs.

"We feel the A(H1N1) influenza is not as dreadful as imagined," said Liu Yuhong, a 69-year-old pensioner.

The Xinhua News Agency said that the mortality rate of the A(H1N1) influenza is less than 1 percent, much lower than SARS. The news makes people like Liu feel the flu strain is not as daunting, although some have said Sichuan has been unlucky to have experienced the most destructive earthquake in recent history and China's first case of the influenza strain in less than one year.

Beijing authorities quarantined 264 people, including 70 foreigners, after the first A(H1N1) case was confirmed on the mainland, officials said on Monday.

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