Traveling to Korea?

By Editor Jane • on July 2, 2009
None - This image is in the public domain and ...

Hello,

Traveling through the airports, most people had on surgical masks for precautions.  When I came back to Busan I had my temperature taken twice at the immigration counter.

Last Tuesday, while I was at work, I read in the paper that the cases of influenza A H1N1 (whatever it’s called) in Osaka, jumped from 4 to nearly 200 over the weekend I was there.  Uh oh . . .  Now the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention have been BLOWING UP my cell phone and calling me at work.  They ask if I have any symptoms: runny nose, sore throat, coughing, etc.  I had a sneezing fit at work yesterday, right around the one week incubation period for the flu.  It was allergies – I’m sure.  Nothing else has happened.

This is the season when students return from abroad to study at home.  Korea says it has 24 cases, but I’m sure it’s going to rise in the coming weeks.

Another English academy had to shut down because a new batch of teachers came over from the United States and possibly infected their entire staff, a national closure for two weeks.  A few or their younger students were infected as well.  That academy doesn’t even close for Korean holidays, so it’s definitely becoming a big deal over here.

Korean news stations are warning people about weyguks (foreigners), especially North Americans, carrying the ‘bug’.  The director at my job told us to watch out for new arrivals and not to frequent ‘foreigner bars’.  We’re trying to convince her to quarantine our returning students before they come back.  I think she’s requiring them to get medical check-ups before they enter classes.

Peace, Love, and Health (acheewww!)

Jay

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Thanks!

  • Recent Entries

    Leave a Comment