Authorities freed 300 guests and staff of a hotel on Friday evening after quarantining them for a week in an attempt to contain a new influenza virus.
Authorities freed 300 guests and staff of a hotel on Friday evening after quarantining them for a week in an attempt to contain a new influenza virus. Guests clapped and screamed as they left the Metropark hotel after police lifted the lockdown at 8:30 pm.
The South China Morning Post reported at least two new couples had formed in the hotel quarantine, along with other tales of intrigue on the edge of Wanchai district. At least one of the women trapped in the hotel was believed to be a prostitute. “She remained stuck in one of the hotel’s 173 rooms with the guest who brought her in, because the management refused her a separate room,” the Post reported, citing unnamed hotel guests.
While many guests were initially outraged to be quarantined for a week in the hotel where a Mexican man confirmed as the city’s first and only H1N1 flu victim had stayed, some learnt how to let their hair down.
In video footage posted on internet video-sharing site YouTube, guests without face masks are seen partying, raising glasses, dancing and laughing while sober-looking policemen in masks watch. “I expect there will be a few guests feeling a bit worse for wear today when we’re given the health check,” one businessman said. “Thankfully, it will be due to the vast quantities of wine they put away last night and not the swine flu.”
Speaking to reporters just before the quarantine was lifted, health minister York Chow said: “Their health is normal and they have received health certificates... I want to thank them on behalf of all Hong Kong people for helping us ensure that Hong Kong is safe.”
Although some people have ridiculed Hong Kong’s move as being extreme, many public health experts have backed the quarantine, saying firm, drastic measures were needed to stop the spread of the disease.
The Hong Kong government has also been on a public relations blitz, offering to foot all extra costs, and plying guests with freebies like T-shirts and tickets to attractions such as the local Disney theme park, while offering two-nights’ free accommodation on their release.
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