China Quarantines Mexicans

甲型H1N1流感的爆发可能导致中国和墨西哥的外交关系出现裂痕，原因是中国卫生部门把多位来华出差或旅游的墨西哥人进行了集中隔离。据报导，迄今为止只有一位进入中国的墨西哥人感染了甲型H1N1流感。墨西哥外交部长埃斯皮诺萨(Patricia Espinosa)周六在记者会上说，没有感染甲型H1N1流感症状的墨西哥公民在中国的隔离环境令人难以接受。她还说，这种做法是歧视性的和没有根据的，政府建议墨西哥公民不要前往中国。她还批评阿根廷秘鲁厄瓜多尔和古巴这四个拉美国家暂时取消来自墨西哥的航班违反了世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)的建议。AFP/Getty Images5月3日，墨西哥驻华大使豪尔赫•瓜哈尔多等待进入国门路大饭店看望被隔离在那里的墨西哥人。旁边的保安注视着他。据墨西哥官员说，目前中国共隔离了70多名墨西哥人，随着不断有墨西哥人打电话给大使馆报告他们的处境，这个数量还在上升。中国一直在搜寻上周四从墨西哥飞抵上海的墨西哥航空公司(AeroMexico)航班上的所有乘客，机上一名25岁的墨西哥男性目前在香港确诊了甲型H1N1流感。这是迄今为止在中国发现的唯一一名墨西哥患者。不过，其它航班上的墨西哥人说，他们也被挑选出来受到了苛刻的对待。36岁的卡里罗(Gustavo Carrillo)上周六被从大陆航空(Continental Airlines)的飞机上带走，送到了一家北京的旅馆进行了隔离。卡里罗是墨西哥一家科技公司驻中国的总经理，同他的妻子和三个儿子生活在北京。他是从中国到美国出差的，并未进入墨西哥。卡里罗说，飞机降落后，卫生人员给其他人量了体温，但在发现他持有墨西哥护照后，根本就没有给他测量体温，而是领着他沿着过道从伸长脖子观看的乘客面前走过。他说，这太令人尴尬和屈辱了，这完全就是歧视。与那位25岁的患者同机抵达上海的墨西哥人抱怨中国方面对他们进行了强制隔离，很少向他们提供信息，而且也只进行了最基本的医疗检查。这些乘客中有一个转机到了北京的五口之家，其中还有三个孩子。周六一早，他们就被从北京的酒店中叫醒，并被送到一家传染病医院。据担任墨西哥航空公司财务总监的父亲多曼(Carlos Doormann)说，他们在医院被隔离在一个房间中，床单上带有血迹， 墙上还有粘液的遗留痕迹。多曼说，我感到沮丧难过。他的家人目前都被送往位于北京郊区的国门宾馆，在那里同其他五位墨西哥人接受隔离，其中就包括卡里罗。据呆在宾馆中的墨西哥人说，身穿白色防护服戴着口罩和橡胶手套的卫生人员登上来自墨西哥和美国各航班，把墨西哥人挑选出来。他们会带走持有墨西哥护照的乘客，而非墨西哥乘客则在座位上看着。有人说，令他们吃惊的是，中国的电视摄像人员和摄影记者会在飞机的舱门处等着他们。他们说，在北京地坛传染病医院进行隔离时，还有记者继续透过窗户拍摄。27岁的商学院学生斯拉姆(Angel Yamil Silum)说，我们感觉自己就像在动物园里。他是与女朋友前往曼谷度假途中作为过境旅客上周六抵达北京的，但在这里却被先后送进了地坛医院和北京国门路大饭店。墨西哥官员们说，中国政府周日允许墨西哥驻华大使豪尔赫•瓜哈尔多(Jorge Guajardo)进入了国门路大饭店，但拒绝了他看望这些墨西哥人的要求，也没有允许他往这些人的房间打电话。墨西哥驻华使馆正在将软饮料比萨饼薯条和其他西式食品以及CD儿童玩具等娱乐用品送往国门路大饭店。中国官员否认墨西哥人被不公平地锁定为隔离目标。北京市卫生局宣传处处长张建枢说，根本不存在歧视谁的问题，我们对所有人一视同仁。他还说也有许多中国人被隔离。张建枢说，北京采取的隔离措施符合世界卫生组织的要求。中国卫生部发言人毛群安说，他同情这些墨西哥人，“我完全了解他们的感受”。他还说，隔离不仅对他们的健康有利，也对公众有利，这根本不是歧视。2003年爆发非典(SARS)疫情时，中国政府的初期应对措施曾被普遍指责为缓慢低效，政府这次似乎急于向中国公众证明，它正在更认真地对待这次疫情。多曼一家的痛苦经历始于上周六凌晨2点。他说，当时一位自称中国卫生官员的女士用西班牙语给他家居住的客房打电话，要这家人“迅速收拾好行李前往医院”。多曼回忆说，他曾问这位女士，“我们能等会儿吗？我有三个孩子。”他三个孩子的年龄分别为8岁6岁和5岁。但凌晨4点半时他们已经来到黑漆漆的北京街头，动身前往地坛医院，这是一处最近开始向公众展示的医疗设施。多曼说，这家医院除被单和墙壁肮脏外，卫生间里也没有肥皂和手纸。在墨西哥驻华大使瓜哈尔多出面干预后，多曼一家被送到了国门路大饭店。与其他被隔离的墨西哥人一样，除了几名卫生部门的工作人员，他们一直未与中国政府官员接触过，也不知道自己会被隔离多久。多曼说，我们在这儿成了人质。国门路大饭店是一个由老旧建筑组成的庞大建筑群，这些建筑有绿瓦铺成的屋顶，周围环绕着草坪和树木。护士会每天两次把体温计放在这些墨西哥人的房门外。其他医学检测则未进行过。这些被隔离者获准前往饭店的庭院，不过饭店“建议”他们留在自己房间里。莫拉莱斯(Myrna Elisa Berlanga Morales)是墨西哥城一位31岁的行政助理，她上周六与两位美国朋友乘坐那架大陆航空公司的班机抵达北京。莫拉莱斯质疑说，既然她和其他墨西哥人一到中国就被送去隔离，为什么中国驻墨西哥的领事官员还要向他们发放签证。她说，他们当初就应该提醒我们。莫拉莱斯说，她的两位朋友曾对她说，她在中国的假期会成为她一生中最难忘的15天，现在她相信了。Andrew Browne相关阅读萨尔瓦多首次确认两例甲型H1N1流感病例 2009-05-04香港证实首例人感染H1N1型流感病例 2009-05-02出现猪流感确诊病例的国家增多 2009-05-01高致命猪流感病毒将压垮全球卫生体系 2009-05-01原声视频：埃及为防猪流感大规模宰杀生猪 2009-05-01


The A/H1N1 flu outbreak is leading to a potential diplomatic row between China and Mexico, as Chinese health authorities round up and quarantine scores of Mexicans -- only one of whom is thus far reported to be sick -- as they fly in on business and holiday trips.Mexico's foreign minister said Mexican citizens with no signs of infection had been isolated in 'unacceptable conditions' in China. Patricia Espinosa told a news conference Saturday that such measures were 'discriminatory and ungrounded' and that the government is advising Mexicans to stay away from China.She also criticized four Latin American countries -- Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Cuba -- for suspending flights coming from Mexico against the recommendations of the World Health Organization.More than 70 Mexicans are in isolation around China, according to Mexican officials, and that number is rising as Mexican travelers call in to their embassy to report their plight.China has been rounding up all travelers aboard an AeroMexico flight from Mexico that arrived on Thursday in Shanghai with a 25-year-old Mexican man now ill with human swine flu in Hong Kong.That man is the only known Mexican sufferer in China to date. However, Mexicans on other flights say they have been singled out for harsh treatment.Gustavo Carrillo, a 36-year-old general manager of a Mexican technology company in China who lives in Beijing with his wife and three sons, was taken off his Continental Airlines plane on Saturday and rushed into quarantine at a Beijing hotel. He had traveled to the U.S. from China on a business trip and hadn't visited Mexico.Mr. Carrillo said health officials took the temperatures of other passengers after the plane landed, but didn't check his after they saw his Mexican passport. Instead, they led him down the aisle past gawking passengers. 'It was embarrassing and humiliating,' he said. 'It's just pure discrimination.'Mexicans who were on the flight to Shanghai with the 25-year-old flu victim complain about how China has enforced its quarantine, offering little information and only the most basic medical testing. Among them is a family of five, including three young children, who transited to Beijing. They were then roused from their hotel room in the Chinese capital in the early hours of Saturday and whisked to an infectious diseases hospital. There, according to the father, Carlos Doormann, AeroMexico's finance director, they were isolated in a room with bloodstained sheets and what appeared to be mucus smeared on the walls.'I'm frustrated and sad,' said Mr. Doormann, whose family has since been moved to the nearby Guo Men Hotel on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, where they are in quarantine along with five other Mexican nationals, including Mr. Carrillo.According to accounts from Mexicans in the hotel, Mexican travelers arriving on various flights from Mexico and the U.S. were singled out by health officials who boarded their aircraft wearing white protective suits, masks and rubber gloves. They led away Mexican passport holders, while non-Mexicans watched from their seats.Several said that Chinese television camera crews and photographers surprised them at the doors of their aircraft as they emerged. They said the filming continued through the windows of an isolation ward at the Beijing Ditan infectious diseases hospital.'We felt like we were in a zoo,' said Angel Yamil Silum, a 27-year-old business student, who arrived in Beijing with his girlfriend on Saturday as transit passengers en route to Bangkok for a holiday and ended up at Ditan and then the Guo Men Hotel.Chinese authorities allowed Mexico's ambassador to China, Jorge Guajardo, to enter the hotel on Sunday but refused him permission to see the quarantined Mexicans or to call up to their rooms, Mexican officials said. The embassy is shuttling soft drinks, pizzas, chips and other Western food into the hotel along with CDs, toys for the children and other entertainment.Chinese officials deny that Mexicans are being unfairly targeted. 'There is no discrimination at all,' said Zhang Jianshu, head of the news office at the Beijing Health Bureau. 'We treat all people the same,' he said, adding that there are many Chinese passengers in isolation. He said the measures are in line with the requirements of the World Health Organization.The spokesman for China's ministry of health, Mao Qun'an, said he sympathized with the Mexicans. 'We totally understand their feelings,' he said. He added: 'The isolation is not only good for their health, but is also good for the public. It's not discrimination at all.'China's government was widely blamed for a slow and ineffective initial response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 and appears eager to demonstrate to the Chinese public that it is taking the threat more seriously this time.The Doormann family's ordeal began at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday when a Spanish-speaking woman, who identified herself as a Chinese health official, called their hotel room and instructed the family to 'pack immediately and go to the hospital,' Mr. Doormann said.'I said, 'can't we wait? I have three little kids',' Mr. Doormann recalled. The children are ages 8, 6 and 5. But at 4:30 a.m. they were whisked through the dark streets of Beijing to Ditan, a recently opened showcase medical facility. Apart from the dirty sheets and walls of their room, Mr. Doormann said the bathroom had no soap or toilet paper.After the personal intervention of Ambassador Guajardo, the family was moved to the Guo Men Hotel. Like their fellow Mexican guests, they have had no contact with Chinese government officials, except health workers, and have no idea how long they will have to stay. 'We're held hostage here,' said Mr. Doormann.The Guo Men Hotel is a sprawling complex of aging buildings with green-tiled roofs surrounded by lawns and trees. Police and uniformed guards patrol the grounds. Twice each day, nurses leave thermometers outside the Mexicans' rooms. No other medical testing is carried out. The quarantined guests are allowed into the hotel grounds, although the hotel has 'recommended' they stay in their rooms.Myrna Elisa Berlanga Morales, a 31-year-old administrative assistant from Mexico City, arrived in Beijing on the Continental flight on Saturday with two American friends. She asked why Chinese consular officials in Mexico issued her and other Mexicans visas when they were heading straight into quarantine in China. 'They could have warned me,' she said.Her two friends had told her that her holiday in China 'would be the most unforgettable 15 days of my life'. She added: 'Now I believe them.'Andrew Browne