As you may have heard, a group of English teachers practically freshly off the plane have been quarantined because one tested positive for H1N1. Now, they weren’t really freshly off the plane. They went through a few days of orientation, which included eating at restaurants, riding subways and interacting with trainers. I’ve been reading Ruby Ramblings and An English Teacher Under Quarantine in South Korea, blogs from two of the quarantined teachers. They are keeping a good sense of humor, but some of what they report there is horrifying, especially the story of the teacher who is coming down with something and wants to be separated from the other teachers who aren’t showing symptoms–a request that is being ignored.
What are the authorities doing?
Foreigner Joy had this conversation with her co-teacher:
Her: “Joy! Do you have the H1?”
Me: “What are you talking about?”
Her: “The pig virus, do you have any symptoms?”
Me: “No.” (serious and confused look)
Me: “Why?”
Her: “Somebody is asking, there are some cases.”
And she proceeded to tell them something on the phone and then we continued class.
At my school, the Ministry of Education called my boss and asked him to report to them of any Americans working here. Just if there were any Americans. They wanted him to register us.
WHAT??
So is this the latest xenophobic witch hunt? Last year, it was diseased American cows. This year it’s diseased American teachers?
On what planet does this make any sense? Are Americans more genetically susceptible, even if they haven’t left Korea in years?
They’re busy detaining all these American teachers, but is no one quarantining the trainers who were in contact with them for days in small classrooms? [UPDATE: They are.] One of the blogs told of the ambulance picking up a third teacher at a subway station.
A possibly infected person was riding a crowded subway? Did someone instruct the teacher to do that?
Kimchi-IceCream has posted some info on H1N1 for anyone who’s interested.
Until then, I guess all us Americans are going to have to wait to be rounded up–or at least villainized as diseased monkeys in the Korean media this summer.
UPDATE: Okay, so it looksl like they are starting to quarantine the people the teachers came into contact with.
25/05/2009 at 7:29 pm Permalink
Without knowing the specifics, it’s impossible to say whether the ‘pickups’ are appropriate or not… They’re probably still rounding people up that may have been affected or suspected of having had contact with other suspected people… It sounds almost draconian – and completely random – but it’s almost certainly done to keep the rest of the country safe.
With that said, if they pick me up, I will be complaining like you wouldn’t believe.
25/05/2009 at 7:50 pm Permalink
So much for my vacation plans this summer–f***!
I don’t want to risk exposing my parents to this–both of them have preexisting health issues that would make the ‘mild’ version the flu a much more serious problem.
I also don’t want to spend any time whatsoever in a Korean quarantine facility . . . argh.
J
25/05/2009 at 8:24 pm Permalink
I’m really glad that you are finding my thoughts on what is going on inside the quarantine useful. I had no idea how little information there would be available about it.
Just a little clarification – our trainers were not Korean citizens (that I know of) there was an Aussie, and a couple of Korean-Canadians, and I believe a Korean-American, all employees of the school that started as instructors the same as us. We found out they have been under house quarantine in their own apartments this whole time.
26/05/2009 at 6:31 am Permalink
Well, I plan to visit both Japan and the US this summer before returning to Korea in September . . . I wonder if that will be possible if this keeps up.
26/05/2009 at 7:59 am Permalink
Thanks for mentioning that experience. I am suppose to go to a convention for teachers for 1 week in June. I am wondering if it will be postponed.
26/05/2009 at 8:09 am Permalink
http://nqs.cdc.go.kr/incheon-airport/index.html
Quarantine website via incheon airport. It is in Korean. So I was wondering if anyone can read up and if there are any insights into the procedure after you arrive in Korea.
27/05/2009 at 6:23 pm Permalink
Hopefully tonight ATEK will have a page devoted entirely to this issue.
I have contacted all of the reporters covering the spread of the virus and any stories connecting it to foreigners. I have contacted embassies, EPIK, and several hagwons. We have researched the WHO guidelines for handling quarantines, and are looking at the rights of foreigners in this matter.
Our page will have Korean phrases that might be useful on this subject, links to all news stories and most blogs, and things one can do to help out and stay healthy.
Most importantly we are observing how those quarantined are being treated and we want them to know we are available to help in any way we possibly can.