Job Discussion Forums

pattyflipper no more · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2003 5:46 pm Post subject: SARS: shoud I avoid china

Hey everyone,
I have been reading the posts about SARS on here, reading the WHO website, and saddly enough watching CNN to get all the facts. I am scheduled to come to china, to the city of Fuzhou on May the 9th. My question to everyone there, Is SARS a serious enough problem that I should postpone my trip or find a different country??? I am not so worried about getting it, but that a travel ban will be placed on china and if I want I won't be able to leave once I get there. Has there been a big outbreak in Fuzhou or the surounding area???

I would like to get the opinions of the teachers living in china. Are any of you very concered about the disease, or being stuck there. Are these fears justified???

Any answers would be great.
Thanks
Cody

gerard · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 581 Location: Internet Cafe

Hello---This is the worst time to post. May day is the you know what here. I expect the hysteria to die down in a week or so but some old pros will correct me I am sure. IMHO its a bunch of foolishness. Like you say the travel issue will be something. I am under fairly strict orders not to travel which is a drag since I have time off. But they pay my salary so wont argue. Dont know about coming and going internationally. Cheers! Its a lot of hypr. When the holiday is over next week it will be forgotten. It is really a conspiracy to make us forget about the Real Madrid Manchester United football game. FIFA have more pull than the PRC .. (uuuugggg....cough...cough....cough.. aaaaahhhhhhh) . Not funny.

miss-l · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Posts: 20 Location: Guangzhou

Hi!
I am pretty much in the same situation. I am supposed to arrive in Beijing on 3rd May then go to Harbin. Right now I don't know if it's stupid to go, or stupid to not go. Grrrrrrrrr.

xiaoyu · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2003 10:07 pm Post subject:

i think it depends a lot on where you are going and what cities you will be travelling thru. i do have a friend in beijing who is coming back to the states, because of the SARS situation. definitely, if WHO and even the PRC government are recommending limited travel in areas, i would recommend trying to postpone your trip. certainly, employers should be understanding about the situation and may even recommend waiting to arrive at a later date.

personally, i would be very very careful of travel in the bigger cities in china, simply because of the higher risk of transmitting the virus. and i would not be heading there now, when it is considered for necessary travel only by many of the powers that be. just being cautious. the health care situation is not the same as it is here, i can vouch by experience and if you have not been there before, don't have a handle on the language, don't have personal contacts there.... well, i would try to postpone it so that you didn't find yourself in a situation made more difficult by the SARS scare.

xiaoyu

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Peking has declared a partial quarantine over parts of its urban areas, or so I heard last night on the newsreel. Some schools will stay closed, with students being kept on campus!

Is it serious? WHo knows? Today for the first time, our estate's bus was filled with people wearing facial masks.
In China, people don't take responsibility for their own needs and duties. They do what their nanny government tells them to do. Thus people act like a herd of sheep. They would all fall over a precipice if their government ordered them to do it in the national interest!
I suggest we tell Chinese that they only get sick through the Internet - the SARS is a computer-virus-induced condition!

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

I think that if you are already in China you should not panic and there is no need to leave. But if you haven't arrived yet, I suggest you might hold off a bit until the madness here dies down. There is a risk that your private language school will close for a while, leaving you without work or salary. There is a risk that your university or other large school will quarantine itself, leaving you a virtual prisoner of the campus. There are a number of undesirable scenarios you could face here right now...and passenger travel within the country is quickly beginning to grind to a halt.

Note that my fears for you here are not too much from a fear of your catching SARS; they stem from the hysteria arising from it.

Cody, in your case I give my advice to wait even more emphasis. If I recall correctly, Fuzhou is in Guangdong Province, yes? Guangdong is the apparent source of the disease, has by far the largest number of victims, and is probably the most dangerous (and psychotic) place to be. Again, no need to leave if you're there now, but do you really want to wade into the middle of this?

Just coming to live in China for the first time is a massive dose of culture shock, even in normal times. Please reconsider adding this to the mix as well.

MT

Seth · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 575 Location: in exile

Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian.

I wouldn't come to China now, wait until next term to try and to be sure this rubbish blows over. This paranoia is too much. I'm not afraid of SARS, but afraid of being held prisoner for coughing or getting a slight cold. For the first time since I've been in China I wish I was back in the US.

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

Thanks, Seth.
I got crossed up with Zhuhai for some reason. I think I will spend some of my travel-free vacation time boning up on Chinese geography. Very Happy

MT

noyb · Joined: 22 Feb 2003 Posts: 93

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

noyb,
things are changing quickly and at this later juncture I tend to agree. From what I am seeing Beijing has easily and rapidly surpassed Guangdong for panic and weirdness, and is knocking on the door of having the largest number of victims- especially if the 4000-odd folks just sequestered there for possible exposure actually contract the disease. My friends there are terrified....

MT

noyb · Joined: 22 Feb 2003 Posts: 93

Few people are wearing masks in Guangzhou that I have seen. Of course, even the effectiveness of masks is debatable according to health experts. Still, I guess it beats, from a human psychological standpoint, doing nothing.

I don�t remember which epidemiologist said it, but it has been said that, in the end, there will only be two types of humans left in the end: those that died from SARS and those that are immune either from a vaccine (which looks light years away) or from having successfully survived a SARS infection.

From my perspective, being alert, using common sense and having a heck of a lot of good luck are what will help most.

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

Masks are everywhere you look in my area...and we dont even have any reported cases yet that I know of. It's a weird sight.

pattyflipper no more · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2003 6:19 pm Post subject:

Thanks for your input.

I know this sounds stupid (as I am going against everything you have said), but I am not sure what I am going to do. I still really want to go, and I am not sure if a few weeks or months would make a large difference. Is it resonable to ask the school if I can wait a few weeks before I come out. Or do you think this will jepordize my contract???

As for the city of Fuzhou, there have not been any cases "reported" yet, and only 3 in the Fijian province. This was backed up by the director of the school, as well as the other teachers at the school. I realize this statistic is saddly going to rise, but I am wondering if it is a reason to stop my whole trip.

Any of your thoughts on this would be great.
Cody

p.s. I think we should start a I hate SARS group, anyone interested???

j_bonner · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 4 Location: NC

Patty,

thanks for asking the question. I too am planning on going hoping to arrive in July. Hope things are better by then. Best wishes

Jerel

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

The good news for the two of you (Patty, Bonner) is that few job hunters are pouring into China now, so the bums needed to fill those vacated chairs are unlikely to show up any time soon.
The situation in Fujian: While the authorities are reporting few cases from that province, this is an optimistic picture that is based on the status quo, which can change at any moment. To arrive at Fuzhou, you will have to pass through an infected area - either Hong Kong (and then by bus or by plane to Fuzhou), or via Shanghai (and by bus, train or plane to Fuzhou).

The chances for you to catch the disease is minimal, and still more minimised by the fact that fewer travellers crowd the planes and trains. Still, old bad habits such as spitting, coughing without covering their mouths and touching handles, bars and taps without washing their hands die hard!