swine flu in Hong Kong
 

Bought a plane ticket to go to Asia in August already. I was planning to get a visa to go into HK (hong kong), but then my mother told me not to because many tourists travel there and the swine flu is pretty bad there.

So how bad is it really? Is it just a bluff?

I mean, we have the swine flu here in Vancouver, and it's litterally unoticable in the places that i mostly go to.

swine flu is bad here?

it's the idiots in NA don't care about it and let people travel around.

sooner or later, HK will become another madagascar---"SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING" :lol


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Swine flu is only bad in Mexico, and even then...the swine flu is just like any other flu. Less than 1% of people who are inflected actually die from the swine flu.

First of all Swine Flu is not news any more.

Secondly, even if it was, it is just the flu. In fact, it's weaker than most common flu viruses. It is just very contagious. As mentioned, less than 1% of people die from it, and those were infants/elderly/already sick people.

Thirdly, only one person had it in Hong Kong, and that was 2 weeks ago. He was from Mexico, and they quarantined him in a hospital, and even quarantined the hotel (for like 2 weeks) even though he was in there for no more than 6 hours.

So no, don't worry about it.

how updated is this news?

cause my mother told me that one of our relatives came back from hk and he got the flu. Then again, this could be a lie because she doesn't want to have me risking it.

He got the flu, not swine flu. Because if he was the SECOND person in HK to get the flu, it would be on the news.

fuck, i get sick all the time too. its cuz you go from the super hot weather, to cold a/c rooms, then ur back into vancouver and its cold damp and wet.

the only reason why swine flu made it to the news is because it was a new strain that jumped from pigs to humans. the reported deaths were of weakened immune system ppl. if you are healthy, it will do no worse than the regular flu.

and tell your mom to stop being so asian. gezzz, sounds like my mom. "we shouldnt go to the states! there is swine flu" my reply to that was "you do realize there are reported cases in BC too right mom?!"

Yeah, there comes a point where you have to decide for yourself if it's time to not listen to your mom 100% of the time. Grow up!

haha. ya.. i was explaining to her that Vancouver probably has it worst than HK.

BTW, what precautions should i take before travelling to China and HK?

I heard there are some shots that I could take to prevent getting sick in China.

Just make sure you're not exhausted at any time, eat good food and/or take a multivitamin every day. Bring some alcohol hand sanitizer with you, and use it several times per day. HK people have terrible manners when it comes to coughing and sneezing, and China people are even worse, so you have to take care of yourself and be defensive. If you want to go extreme, wear a mask. But have fun wearing a mask all day in this weather :)

When I first moved to HK, I got really sick a few times. But I haven't been sick in over a year now (knock on wood). I definitely take care of myself better, not to get sick.

nothin to worry bout, was in china/hk for about 3 weeks. jus got back to vancouver a couple days ago, didn't feel sick or anything while i was there. as for the shots, just ask your doctor he would know what shots your missing.

honestly it wouldnt be necessary to get shots before going to china...usually when ppl get flu shots, they end up gettin sick.

just make sure ur not sick when u go..

Definitely make sure your hepatitis C shots are up to date. People don't wash their hands here, and then they are the ones who handle your food. My wife's uncle eventually died of liver failure due to hepatitis he got while visiting HK.

^
For three days of my trip, I will be visiting some relatives in a poor village in China. I'll probably only be in HK for 3 days aswell. So again, I'll be visiting some unclean cities/villages.

Any tips would be helpful!

haha.. i don't mind wearing a mask, but it makes me feel disrespectful to my relatives.

Keep your hands clean, double check to make sure that your food is fully cooked and clean looking. Believe me, going to a poor village in China is a lot more interesting than the phony shithole cities they have.

didn't everyone take these shots back in high school??

I guess so... Do they last forever?

im in hk right now, seems like its overblown.

everyone is wearing those blue face masks, pretty funny

they do... don't they?
i remember them telling me that I had to take the shots once in my life time so might as well get it over with while i'm young...

unless those fuckers lied...

why?? so is it serious?
why would ppl wear masks if there is like no cases of swine flu except for the hotel lock down incident

Isn't there more cases in BC alone as compared to cases in HK? You're fine. Ever since SARS they've blown everything out of proportion.

But HOLY warehouse sales, private sales, sample sales, major sales GALORE in HK right now.

If you don't want to go, I'll gladly go in your place and do up my third visit this year.

kk... thanks for all the replies..
i'm glad that i checked up the situation here rather than being influenced by family members.. I guess i'll be at HK! maybe I should get a rs t-shirt and wear it there! too bad there isn't any RS tank top!

People always wear face masks in HK when there's a "scare". But it's less common now that the 'scare' is over after the hotel incident. Some companies make their employees wear masks (Jusco does this) but as far as people doing it on their own, usually it's the paranoid idiots who wear them all the time anyway, and people who are already sick and don't want to spread it.

Actually looking at the stats, if you were to have swine flu in HK, it is far more likely that you contracted it in BC already, and brought it over here. There have been 10 cases in HK, mostly in people who were arriving from swine flu places. BC on the other hand has had 115 cases.

So if you parents are insisting on being stupid, just show them those stats.

Sources: 1, 2

hong kong is sick right now!
tons of canadians/americans due to it being summer, great sales.
im also going to above and beyond on the 28th
i also met bob sapp, hes fighting here.

dont let some media overlown scare prevent u from coming here