CHINESE nationals travelling out of China for holidays are scared of contracting the coronavirus.
This was shared by Gene Fan of Guangdong Province after arriving at the Nadi International Airport via a Fiji Airways Hong Kong flight.
“It’s a very unfortunate, sudden and very unacceptable event, not only from a Chinese point of view but from a global point of view,” she said.
“It has really tested the limits and capacity of our health system and our government.”
She said every Chinese national travelling out of their country had undergone very strict border scrutiny before boarding their flights.
“I had this holiday planned for a very long time but even when I left, there was a lot of fear not only from me but from our family.
“We are even scared to travel because we don’t know if we will contract the virus or not.
“We went through thermal scanning at the Chinese port then again at the Hong Kong airport before we boarded the Fiji flight.
In my opinion the security checks were necessary. The more important action that we can take ourselves is to take care of our individual health.
“It will not only protect us but also protect people outside of the country.”
Ms Fan arrived alongside Fijian students studying in India. According to one student, they were not thermally scanned before entering Hong Kong and before heading to Fiji.
“We received forms to fill out and it asked us certain questions such as from which countries we were coming from and where we were going,” said one of the students.
According to airport officials, every Asian-based arrival was heavily scrutinised. Rosie Holidays airport supervisor Josifini Wabu said staff members awaiting the arrival of Asian clients wore protective surgical masks and gloves while greeting guests.
“We have about five to six based at the airport and another four or five come in when we have an arrival of clients from Asia,” she said.
“Every one of them wear gloves and masks.
“There are also health and border officials doing checks every time a flight from Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore arrives.”