Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 21-May-2009 05:36 hrs
A geisha walks past with a woman wearing a facemask in Kyoto, Japan. The global swine flu caseload surged past the 10,000 mark with the crisis escalating in Asia despite stringent efforts to contain the virus. Many of the cases have been among school students, prompting authorities to close more than 4,400 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus.
Governments in Asia, where memories of the bird flu crisis remain raw, have been swift to quarantine both locals and foreigners in a bid to stop swine flu in its tracks.
But a group of some 20 foreign tourists held in Tibet over fears an Italian woman with them had swine flu were released Wednesday after tests showed she was suffering from common influenza, Chinese officials said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali warned of the dangers posed by swine flu to millions of Muslim pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia.
While he could not bar Egypt's estimated 600,000 pilgrims from travelling as such a decision was up to clerics, Gabali said he could "open quarantines and say: no one will return from Saudi Arabia to his home." — AFP
From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.
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