Sunday, May 24, 2009

Latest update on Quarantine at Cairo Airport

Flew in this morning from Dubai. Had heard a few stories of the nurses at the Cairo airport, most of them uncomplimentary. Was completely prepared to give them a earfull - Egyptian style - if they decided to thrust a reused thermometer in my ear, wiped with the same swab of cotton over the day.

They were a lot less nurses swarming around, than when I returned to Cairo at the beginning of the month. They seemed to be better organised. I didn't see signs of a thermometer, but there were 2 video cameras which passengers had to file in front of. Some passengers were made to show their side profiles, chin up-chin down the type of mug shots you see taken in Hollywood before seomeone is thrown into jail. How these passengers were singled out, I have no clue.

I did what I normally do in Egypt, ignore everyone and walk past them, unless they are authority figures who try really hard to get your attention for a seemingly relevant reason ("I want to marry you", "are you married?" does not count)

Some of the Immigration officials who were walking around, among the queued up public had masks on, but the latex gloves were no longer visible.

So that's the status today at 7:30am.

Have a pic of the video sessions, will try & upload that, once I download it off my phone.

4 comments:

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani said...

The whole thing is a tempest in a teapot. More people die from the garden variety flu than have even gotten sick from this fancy flu. Even the WHO is a bit embarrassed about the hoopla. It's as though the public and certain governments who shall remain nameless have become puppets run by the press.

Kim said...

I completely agree with you Maryanne and that is why I find the whole situation being played out so amusing.

A friend who flew into Germany (where 5 deaths were reported from the H1N1 virus) said that nothing had changed at the airports. It was being treated as just another virus.

The sad part is the number of innocents who get caught in the crossfire and ignored as collateral damage.

vagabondblogger said...

I fly back early June (from the USA via Frankfurt) and can't wait to see what sort of greeting I get. It's good to know what to expect though. When I left I saw only one person at the Frankfurt airport wearing a mask. I was there for several hours, and my first thought was "Run! That man has a disease!" He stuck out like a sore thumb. No one else was wearing a mask, or even looked / acted phased by all the hype about it.

Thanks for the update.

Kim said...

anytime, glad to help.

the masks in Cairo don't stand out too much as you can always find tourists from certain countries (that shall not be named) wearing masks while touring the country. flu scare or not and at any time of the year.

Can't blame them though, given the pollution levels that we live with

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