Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The New Influenza
This ominous H1N1 virus has everyone in Korea going crazy too. So crazy that all the schools in the city where I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays have shut down for a week. The other schools are open for now, but one of my students is out sick with what Koreans translate into English as "the new influenza" and a lot of others are absent to avoid the chance of contamination. All the students and teachers wear masks and constantly visit the hand sanitation station, but those pesky germs always seem to find a way. The country's health officials have upgraded the threat level to the highest level and 42 South Koreans have died so far but vaccines aren't available until next week. Even so, I'm not afraid for my health or for Andrew's (knock on wood). I just worry about the students and our travel plans....
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Speaking of travel...when we went to Cancun, we had to fill out a form asking us about our health status. Strangely enough, nothing was asked when we arrived back in the US. Makes me feel pretty safe.
ReplyDeleteI had to fill out a form when I went on a cruise in August... saying that I felt well and didn't feel signs of the flu. Like Andy, they didn't ask anything when I came back to the US. Oh well. I'm sure you'll be able to travel fine!
ReplyDeleteI just found out that they have the H1N1 vaccines here and want to get all the soldiers and family members vaccinated before Thanksgiving. I wasn't planning to get vaccinated, but if it's available, why not?
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