People wait for arrivals at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC

Two overseas Vietnamese threatened to sue the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department last week if they lost their jobs in the US after being quarantined for H1N1 flu suspicions prior to their return flight.

It was business as usual for health authorities in HCMC who have to remain calm and diligent as they take on the daunting task of tackling influenza A (H1N1) flu, which has hit more than 100 people in the country so far.

“Health officials have paid much more attention to tackling influenza A (H1N1) infection than when coping with bird flu and SARS,” said Phan Van Nghiem of the city’s Department of Health.

“There have been more cases and the disease has been spreading longer.”

Since April, health officials have been relentlessly screening passengers at the city’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport, which receives some 55 flights and 10,000 people a day.

The force of 40 health officials work round the clock in shifts of five people each.

One of the officials, who wished to go unnamed, said an overseas Vietnamese from the US had fled to Khanh Hoa Province after knowing preventive health officials were looking for her at her relative’s house in HCMC’s District 11.

Khanh Hoa health authorities later found the woman having breakfast at an eatery in the province’s beach town of Nha Trang. She only agreed to be quarantined after the importance of the situation was explained to her by health officials.

In another case, preventive health officials had to look for a South Korean mother and her son who had fled quarantine at Children’s Hospital No. 2. They also had to search for a quarantined child who was secretly taken from Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital by her family.

“The residents are worried and the situation upsets them easily,” said Nghiem. “We have to be patient to offer them effective consultations.” He said his health officials received around 150 calls a day.

He said a woman once called him to ask if she could visit Thailand. Before Nghiem could answer, she said she would hold the department responsible if she got sick.

Health officials have also been the targets of complaints by many frustrated impatient people quarantined due to symptoms suspiciously like those of influenza A (H1N1).

“Many people had planned a visit of just a couple of days in Vietnam and were impatient when they had to stay much longer,” Nghiem said.

However, most of them have cooperated after being briefed on the risks to themselves and the community, he said.

He said an overseas Vietnamese from Australia phoned him several times last Saturday with criticism and then again later to beg to be discharged after being quarantined at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital.

Another overseas Vietnamese from Australia told Thanh Nien on the phone she couldn’t wait to visit her father in Binh Thuan Province because he was seriously sick.

The mother of an 18-month-old child had to leave the baby with her husband in Australia to rush back to Vietnam to see her sick father.

“I have only seven days in Vietnam but have been quarantined for three days,” she said. “I’m worried I won’t be able to see him.”

Thanh Nien visited Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital over the weekend and found dozens of people quarantined for influenza A (H1N1) tests after arriving in the city with flu-like symptoms.

The quarantined people were worried and impatient, just like their relatives and friends waiting outside.

Reported by Thanh Tung