NZ admits overreacting to flu scare on plane from Japan

a good decision, although it is impossible to stop it from spreading....

I hope the warmth of NZ heals them soon. Still pretty cold in Japan, here.

The New Zealand Herald had a much more detailed report and stated that it was a group of 93 Japanese teenagers and 8 adults.

You'd have thought anyone with the flu would have not flown, typical though, no consideration for anyone else and spread the germs freely to anyone who happens to get close enough.

ExportExpert, flu symptoms usually come on suddenly, so the majority of the sufferers probably didn't know they had it when they boarded the 11 hour flight to NZ. Anyway, typical of who/what? The flu spreads seasonally all over the world, not only in Japan because of something you believe only people here do/don't do.

Typical of japanese who get on a crowded train (now plane) sneeze and cough all over everyone else, typical of people who have no consideration of others around them.

Its summer in NZ now, no flu untill this lot arrived en masse to spread it. Common sense says dont fly with a cold let alone the flu. Even a doctor will tell you not to fly when you have a cold. I guarantee all if not most knew they had symptoms before boarding this flight.

You make a habit of defending the ignorant do you apsara?

Flight from heck, trapped on the tarmac with 60 kids with the flu.

Are they still on the plane?

I hope everyone gets better soon!

@ExportExpert: I don't think Apsara is defending anybody. Flu Syptoms come on very quickly and if you read the article, its not even Japanese Kids. I was on a flight from Paris to Tokyo once when we were grounded/quarantined at Narita for 5 hours because one French passenger had suspected meningitis. I don't see how this is an excuse to bash Japan. Really.

Bet that would've been fun: trapped on a long haul flight with a load of schoolkids with the flu

No.

How reminiscent of how air travelers were treated anywhere during the swine flu panic Weasel, I don't there is a need to clarify 'Narita' within your post.

@Export... These tours by the Japanese schools are planned far into the future. Not only are plans made that far in Japan, but also at the destination where hard workers like me have to find, in this case, 96 families, who have to get checked out and everything. To cancel would be devastating for all involved. I am in the process of finding 116 families here in Canada for near the end of March.

Typical of japanese who get on a crowded train (now plane) sneeze and cough all over everyone else, typical of people who have no consideration of others around them.

Its summer in NZ now, no flu untill this lot arrived en masse to spread it. Common sense says dont fly with a cold let alone the flu. Even a doctor will tell you not to fly when you have a cold. I guarantee all if not most knew they had symptoms before boarding this flight.

You make a habit of defending the ignorant do you apsara?

No, I make a habit of not jumping to conclusions- how do you know any of these people were suffering flu symptoms when they got on the plane? As I said, a feature of influenza is that it comes on very suddenly, and also that it makes most people so sick that if they were already suffering from symptoms they probably wouldn't make it onto the plane.

I also make a habit of not making ridiculous generalisations- I have been coughed and sneezed on by all kinds of nationalities, whatever you want to think about it being the exclusive domain of Japanese people.

How is this an overreaction? SIXTY kids reported to be showing flu-like symptoms coming from a nation where the flu is near epidemic levels and isn't showing much sign of abating. It was a precaution, and once tests were done everyone was let off. It doesn't seem to matter about influenza shots either, because half the people who've come down with the flu seem to have gotten flu shots.

When I visited Korea during the whole swine flu affair I was taken aside at immigration back in Osaka on my return because I have a Canadian passport. It didn't seem to matter to immigration that I had not been home for more than four years -- long before the flu had broken out -- it was because I came from Canada. Now THAT was an overreaction!

The better question is why they are allowed on the plane in the first place. I have a friend who went to NY two weeks back and she admitted to me that the morning the night before their departure her daughter developed influenza (she was taken to a clinic and diagnosed and given medicine), but they decided to go there anyway because they really wanted to go. She said her daughter STILL had a high fever when they boarded the plane. My question is what happened to all those heat detectors they put into use during SARS and the swine flu? Is it only when the flu might ENTER Japan from other nations, not leave the country itself?

Seems fair to me. Sixty kids being home stayed in a country with no flu?! Take all the precautions they want.

Doesn't seem like an over-reaction at all. They are too quick to apologise. It's not like they were held up overnight - 3 hours isn't that much, compared with spreading a flu epidemic. I think NZ did all right.

The Hong Kong "A" Flu seems to come on very quickly once past the incubation period, which I don't know how long it is. Some elderly people have died from it this year in Japan.

My daughter caught this flu. Her fever picked up to 39 degrees in a matter of four hours. She was back to her rambunctious self in 30 hours.

So, on a flight to NZ, it would be easy to board the plane with no symptoms and exit with a fever.

Oh, my daughter had her flu vaccine this year. Maybe the length of her illness was decreased, but she still got sick. Tamiflu probably also helped reduce the length of her fever.

Where there is a disease that affects so many in so little a time, there is no such thing as being over-cautious.

Three hours? I feel sorry for the Pilots and stewardesses that could have been breathing in all those flu viruses during that time in waiting.

I think they responded quite properly. Western societies tend to take more preventive measures to ensure the welfare and national security of our nations. Some may see it as a bit irrational to have such "contagion" fears but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

next "overreaction" will be to shoot down the plane. sick humans need more consideration, not a 3 hour wait. if they are so paranoid why don't they lock themselves up, close all ports. and they can live happily ever after

remember a few years back the holdup at narita complete with people in paper gowns held together by masking tape making the rounds on all the planes and really holding people up. not that there is anything wrong with being cautious.

I really don't think it was an over reaction, yes they had to wait 3 hours, but there isn't a whisper of mistreatment or otherwise.

Im not really sure where the outrage is coming from, the health department, not the airline took action to ensure the safety of the other passengers, the country and in some ways the ill people themselves.

Takahiro.. as a counter point to your argument can I offer this information; NZ is one of the most open countries in the world, it is a very diverse and accepting country. Its not perfect by far, but no-where is.

It is a shame that these kids had a wait in a plane for 3 hours, but would you not expect or demand that Japanese officials did the same thing if a plane arrived in Narita with dozens of sick people.. or perhaps we should just all close our eyes and say shoganai...

ExportExpert - Do you know of any other countries in which people don facemasks when they're sick to avoid spreading their germs to others? I doubt it, as I've traveled to about 30 countries and have never seen it. Granted, some Japanese (especially middle-aged men) tend to cough and even sneeze without covering their mouth, (which I don't like either), but I find that generally speaking, Japanese tend to avoid spreading germs more than their western counterparts.

@ Equality - having lived here for a bit, the real reason most Japanese wear the masks is to avoid catching colds and flu. At the monet I'd say 70 percent of people in my city are wearing them right now. I doubt they work however, as indicated by the high level of influenza here.

Stuart Cundys nonplussed reaction to the fuss is typical of somebody who knows only too well which side his bread is buttered. I tried to imagine Stuarts Japanese counterpart similarly flippantly brushing the matter off if the situation was reversed and it was a planeload of flu infected NZ schoolkids touching down at Narita, but my imagination failed me.

When I think of overreactions it's more akin to the fear of 'Soccer Hooligans' that had Japanese citizens closing shops and had riot police in special training on tv for a week. For fear of all the uneducated unwashed masses that'd save up the cash needed to fly to Japan just to overrun the place. Of course nothing happened... but watching all the interviews during the leadup to the World Cup homegames was good entertainment for me. I'd expect Japan to be gratious about others over-stepping a little =).

I bet they were all wearing masks. Thats what probably freaked the kiwis.

ExportExpert is apparently a medical doctor who personally examined all the students. He insists they have the flu virus even though the article clearly states they didn't have the flu virus. I wonder how many people he's tweeted warning them about the "new influx of influenza from Japan"?

... Not sure where reading comprehension has gone in JT.

This is an over-reaction because the passengers on the plane were treated as though they had flu when most of them didn't.

The actions that were taken were entirely reasonable, because if the passengers DID have flu, this would NOT have been an over-reaction. The actions taken would have prevented exacerbating influenza spread in the case of a real outbreak.. This is an over-reaction only in hindsight.

No where in the article was any mention of outrage or censure for what happened. The NZ officials were graceful enough to acknowledge their actions did not suit the actual truth, but given the symptoms that were reported, I doubt anyone would argue that they did the wrong thing.

Despite all of this information clearly stated in the article, we have 30+ comments of people arguing over inconsiderate flu flyers, and scandalised posters insisting that this was not an "over-reaction". This is a POSITIVE piece of news, that showcases the initiative and efficiency of NZ officials when faced with uncertainty and a possible outbreak, and should have been greeted with comments that praised such decisive action. But yet... oh well. GJ, JT readers.

From what I hear, New Zealand quarantine is quite tough on scrutiny, not just on pathogens but the passengers' personal luggage. They even warn against bringing in shoes and tent pegs that may have soil deposits on them o-0. They will go the distance to protect New Zealand's unique natural environment (already contaminated by innumerous European fauna and flaura).

Yes Nz bio-security is quite strict to try and protect native species of animals and also the agricultural industry which is one of the most important for Nz's economy. As you say sadly it has already been quite badly effected by non-native animals and many native birds, lizards and other animals are now endangered. I used to make a tv show about it, it was always tough to see the cultural misunderstandings about what is ok to bring in and what isn't.

How come people cannot read?

They did not have the flu.

By the way, I have never ever had anyone cough in my face here or sneeze on me.

People are very concerned about germs here. Sought of weird. You need germs to stay healthy.