Swine flu forces cancellation of South Korean choir contest

[HenryN]

Swine flu forces cancellation of South Korean choir contest

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<!--headlinesRelated--><!--headlinesCopy-->Last Updated: 18 hours 4 minutes ago
In South Korea 14 Indonesians attending a choir contest have been confirmed to have swine flu.

It's the country's largest daily confirmation.

Organisers of the contest have cancelled the event and have rushed to send more than one thousand participants home.

On Sunday more than 400 Chinese and nearly 300 Indonesians are expected to fly home.

Many others are planning departures on Monday.

Health authorities are testing 34 other Indonesians with flu symptoms.

The choir contest drew more than 1500 people from abroad.

http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200907/2623258.htm?desktop

 

[HenryN]

Re: Swine flu forces cancellation of South Korean choir contest

World choir contest hit by H1N1 flu

Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:09pm IST
SEOUL (Reuters) - Fourteen Indonesians attending a choir contest in South Korea were confirmed H1N1 patients on Saturday in the country's largest daily confirmations as organizers rushed to send more than 1,000 participants home.
On Sunday, 404 Chinese and nearly 300 Indonesians are expected to fly home after the contest in the southern city of Changwon was canceled on Saturday. Many others are planning departures on Monday.
Health authorities are running tests on 34 other Indonesians with flu symptoms, provincial and Health Ministry officials said. South Korea has had 394 confirmed cases of the flu with 80 people in quarantine.
The choir contest drew more than 1,500 people from abroad.
The H1N1 swine flu virus first emerged in Mexico in March and was spreading out of control in the United States by the time it was identified at the end of April.
The World Health Organization declared a pandemic in June. It has killed close to 500 people globally.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINTRE56A1EP20090711

 

[HenryN]

Re: Swine flu forces cancellation of South Korean choir contest

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By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

The World Choir Championship 2009, which opened Wednesday in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, was canceled Friday after 13 participants from Indonesia and one Korean volunteer were found to have possibly contracted influenza A (H1N1), and had to be hospitalized.

Meanwhile, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Management (KCDC) advised vacation goers to refrain from visiting crowded places.

The authorities are worried about the possibility that large events over the summer holidays will turn into routes for possible mass transmission of the virus.

So far this month, 13 people have already been confirmed with the infection. All of them are suspected of having contracted the virus at events involving people who have been abroad.

Five members of a group of 45 Christians were confirmed with the virus after a trip to Thailand from June 17 to July 2. Two university students were confirmed after returning from a trip to the Philippines from June 24 to July 4.

In addition, another two patients were diagnosed with the disease after attending a large camp where 8,500 university students from more than four countries gathered for four days. The disease center assumes that all attendees may have been exposed to the virus.

Meanwhile, the first case of influenza A among local residents to have an undetermined location of transmission was reported Friday, according to the KCDC.

A 36-year-old woman was recently confirmed to have contracted the disease after suffering from a high fever since July 2, it said. However, the KCDC could not determine where the woman, a nursery school teacher, became infected. She had never been abroad and had not been in the vicinity of a patient with the new strain of influenza.

It surmised that she may have visited crowded places and contracted the virus from a stranger.

The woman is now in isolation and the government has recommended that her family members and students refrain from going outside for seven days.

``If you have been to large events and have a runny nose, high fever or sore throat, please report to the nearest public healthcare center,'' Shin Sang-sook, a ministry official, said.

So far, Korea has confirmed 367 cases of the influenza infection with 91 remaining hospitalized.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr​

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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/07/117_48289.html

 

[HenryN]

Re: Swine flu forces cancellation of South Korean choir contest

South Korea's health authorities said Saturday they have confirmed 12 additional cases of influenza A, mostly Indonesians, bringing the total number of infections here to 379.

The patients -- all of whom recently arrived in South Korea to participate in a music festival -- tested positive for the H1N1 virus after showing flu-like symptoms such as a high fever or sore throat, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said in an e-mailed statement.

They have been placed under close observation at designated hospitals for isolation and treatment, it added.

The ministry said an additional 36 peoples, including Indonesian nationals, are also being tested for the HIN1 virus as they showed similar flu-like symptoms.

A total of 4,436 people, including 1,532 foreigners from 17 countries, have participated in the music festival, which kicked off Wednesday in Changwon, about 400km south of Seoul. Health authorities said more cases of influenza A are likely to be reported.

South Korea has been relatively insulated from the global pandemic, which has claimed more than 400 lives worldwide since the disease was first identified in April. No deaths have been reported here.

But concerns have lingered that the disease could be spreading more quickly after two local elementary schools were temporarily closed last week when they found students who had been infected with the virus.

The government earlier said that it plans to spend nearly 200 billion won (US$157 million) to secure enough vaccines to inoculate 13 million people against the new flu.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2009/07/11/82/0502000000AEN20090711001400320F.HTML

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Swine flu forces cancellation of South Korean choir contest

12 Children `s Member Elfa Music School Kena Flu Pigs
Saturday, July 11 2009, 19:38:00
Seoul, (PRLM) .- Twelve children members Elfa's Music School of the Asian Choir Games held in Seoul, South Korea on 8 July 2009, the H1N1 virus is exposed to positive (swine flu). Group of participants in the race, there is also music pentolan group Elfa's Singer, Elfa Secioria.

According to one member Elfa's Singer, Yana Julio, who contacted by phone, Elfa situation adequately. "Kang Elfa adequately, the results pemeriksaannya negative and he is not exposed to the virus," says Yana.

According to Yana, because the H1N1 virus is infecting the participants race category of children, adult race category, which should follow it with three members of another Elfa's Singer, Seoul canceled by the government.

"Cancellation competition have been made since a few days ago by Seoul government as most participants exposed to the virus. In fact, not only participants from India are affected by swine flu, but also participants from other countries," says Yana.

Yana also hear that the junior members Elfa's Music School in the race that carries the song in the ethnic control of both. "They got quite a good handling of the Seoul government, local hospital, and of course the Indonesian embassy in Seoul," says Yana.

Should be, this group of race participants will return to Indonesia. But because some of the participants exposed to the virus H1N1 positive, the plan was canceled home. According to Yana, participants were negative in the near future will be immediately returned to Indonesia:tiphat:http://www.pikiran-rakyat.com/index.php?mib=news.detail&id=86087