www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-07 07:46:20

Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu 　

BEIJING , May 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authorities on Thursday started lifting a seven-day quarantine on passengers from the Mexico City-Shanghai flight AM098, where a Mexican man was confirmed to be infected with influenza A/H1N1 on May 1.

The Beijing Disease Control Center confirmed that 16 quarantined people will be released on Thursday, of which nine were from the Mexican flight.

One of the passengers, surnamed Wen, told Xinhua over phone Thursday morning that she was on her way home.

"Each of us has been given a notice with the center's seal to verify that we've passed the medical quarantine. My employer sent a car to take me home," she said.

She said the notice is important to prove her health is good so that she would not face prejudice from her colleagues after returning to work.

He Xiong, deputy director of the disease control center, said that there are 51 people still under quarantine in Beijing.

"They were either under health check at hospital or staying in an isolated hotel. None of their saliva sample tested positive for the flu virus," said He.

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday notified local health authorities that the passengers quarantined in the Chinese mainland who took the same flight with the Mexican will be out of quarantine on Thursday, if they display no flu-like symptoms.

Also on Wednesday, 25 Canadian students were released from medical surveillance in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

The overseas students at Northeast Normal University were put under observation at a hotel immediately after flying to Changchun on May 2 from Canada via Beijing.

The students had displayed no influenza A/H1N1-like symptoms, including fever and sore throat, local health authorities said late Wednesday.