【卫报】Quarantine brings love in the time of swine flu at Hong Kong hotel

vivicat

Quarantine brings love in the time of swine flu at Hong Kong hotel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/08/swine-flu-hotel-hong-kong
Matthew Weaver Friday 8 May 2009 21.08 BST

• First Asian case was traced to Hong Kong hotel
• Guests locked in for week tell of parties and romance

For many, it would have been the week from hell: nearly 300 strangers, trapped in a hotel at the centre of one of the world's most populous cities, with only TV and the fear of infectious disease to keep them occupied.

But today, as 296 guests and employees were finally allowed to leave Hong Kong's Metropark hotel, it emerged that the enforced quarantine had provided the setting for all-night drinking sessions and blossoming romance. At least two couples formed lasting relationships during their week-long incarceration, according to the South China Morning Post.

One week after they were confined to the hotel where Asia's first swine flu case was traced, the guests emerged clapping and cheering, discarding their face masks. A Korean businessman broke into song and hugged a policeman. "I'm happy! I love Hong Kong people," he said.

"It's nice to smell fresh air," added a British man who identified himself only as Matt.

It was a marked contrast to the serious mood a week ago when the hotel was locked down after it emerged that a 25-year-old Mexican man who had contracted the H1N1 virus had stayed there. The man, who spent the week confined to hospital, was discharged last night.

The decision to quarantine the hotel contributed to a diplomatic dispute between China and Mexico over Beijing's handling of the virus. The Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, complained of a backlash against Mexicans abroad. Chinese authorities countered that their experience of the Sars outbreak
had taught them to be cautious.

Guests initially complained of being trapped. But they soon accepted their fate, and after fears about the severity of the virus subsided, spirits in the hotel began to lift.

On Tuesday a birthday party for a French guest carried on into the small hours. "They ended the night quite drunk," said Kevin Ireland, a businessman from New Delhi who wrote a daily blog of life inside the hotel. He claimed that the bill for wining and dining the guests for a week would
be "astronomical". After being released from the hotel, he said: "We were treated very well."

It wasn't all fun and games. At least one woman caught in the quarantine was a prostitute who was forced to spend the entire week with her client after the management refused to give her a separate room, it was reported.

The hotel is in Hong Kong's Wanchai district, the setting of The World of Suzie Wong, a 1960 film about prostitution in the city, and the area is still said to be popular with visiting sailors.

Hong Kong officials were keen to placate the hotel guests, who were given tickets to Hong Kong's Disneyland, restaurant vouchers and film tickets. A picture posted on the Metropark's Facebook page showed guests slipping notes into a tip box for the hotel staff.

Hong Kong's health minister, York Chow, was grateful to the guests. "I want to thank them on behalf of all Hong Kong people for helping us ensure that Hong Kong is safe."

Thomas Tsang, head of Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, said officials would be reviewing their quarantine procedures.