Ask Pete: swine flu and health care

This week, our CRI correspondent Peter Koveos answers our questions about how people in Beijing are reacting to the swine flu epidemic and what type of health care is available in China. If you want to know anything about China, just Ask Pete!

How did you spend the last May Day holiday?

Pretty much like I did today. We had Friday off, so what I did was I went and watched hockey with some friends of mine. My team, the Vancouver Canucks, were playing so we went to a local bar and we watched that. It was a very nice time because the team won, so we enjoyed that and we went and had some breakfast. It's odd to actually watch hockey early in the morning because we're used to watching it at night. Then just you know ran some errands, got some stuff done around the house. That's all I really needed to do.

What was Beijing like then?

Surprisingly, it seemed like a lot of people went away, like went camping and did something like that.

How do the Chinese feel about the loss of the Golden Week?

You know what, it's kinda mixed. Some people want the extra days. Other people prefer having just the one day if they get more days throughout the year. It's really mixed, so there's no one way to say.

Let's talk about something that's been in the headlines lately. What has the public reaction been in Beijing to the swine flu outbreak?

People are aware. It's not like you'll see people wearing masks and stuff. They read the paper and they watch the news. They're taking that kind of precaution. It's not like all of a sudden people stop eating pork or anything like that. They're just sort of aware and seeing is it coming here and where else it's sort of spread.

Have they changed their routines because of this?

I haven't seen anyone do anything out of the ordinary. Not at all. Also, I work in a newsroom. I think we're more aware of what's going on so I don't we'll actually see it in the newsroom, because we tend to get the news first. But on the subway, it's not like I'm seeing people do anything out of the ordinary.

So, no one's whipping out the hand disinfectant in the subway?

No, not like that. But in here, it seems like people wash their hands quite often anyway. I don't think anyone's going to do anything different in that sense... continue to wash their hands, be clean and that should be enough?

How is the outbreak being handled there?

I do know that when you check in, like now, if you're traveling to Beijing, before you just go through customs and that kind of stuff. But now they're taking a few more precautions. They're making sure they're a little more thorough. For some people before, it used to take half an hour to go through customs, now it's taking two- to two-and-a-half hours. They want to make sure they haven't been to Mexico or any of the other nations where the outbreak's occurred.

There was even a group of Canadians that were in quarantine for seven days because on their plane, I believe, there was a gentleman who had been in Mexico so they wanted to be sure that no one was infected. They're taking extra precautions like that.

You mentioned quarantine. What's the reaction of the ordinary Chinese? Are they supportive of the government move?

Most people believe that if the government did something, there is a reason for it. Myself, being Canadian, because there were Canadians, I don't see it the same way because where they came from – they were from Quebec – there were no cases of swine flu there. That being said, if there was a gentleman from Mexico on their plane, I can see the need for precaution but I don't know if seven days was what they needed. I don't believe the gentleman from Mexico was a carrier. I can see the need for quarantine, but maybe not seven days.

What's the message from the government about it?

It's just basically the same thing as usual. Wash your hands. Try not to be in contact with people who have been out of the country and been in the areas that have been affected. Just be cautious, but again, people are still eating pork. When something like this happens, the first reaction is, okay, I'm going to stop eating pork. That hasn't changed.

The government is basically trying to make sure that nobody panics. Everything will be okay. The government will take care of what needs to be done. We're taking all these cautious steps. When people come in, they're checked out. Obviously, they're investigating if there are cases here, too.

You weren't in China during the SARS outbreak, but do you see people drawing a comparison between the two?

Some, to a point. I was in Canada when it happened there, when it happened in Toronto. And even though we were on the other side of the country, everyone was cautious. Anytime something like this happens, there's always going to be a comparison. When SARS happened, it sort of happened so quickly and at first, we didn't know where or how or when it occurred. Whereas, with swine flu, “Oh, this is where it started. This is what's happening.” So we seem to be at a different level. Back then, it just happened so quickly and we were trying to find some answers.

The Chinese government has promised to be more open about swine flu incidence...

Yes. That's what they promised and right now, we have to take them at their word. There isn't anything that's saying that isn't happening.

Part of the stimulus package is a plan to reform the public health care system. What kind of health care is available to city dwellers and is it different from what's available in the countryside?

I believe it is, just because in the city, just like in a lot of places, we have access to better health care. It's quicker to access that kind of thing. I remember when I went into a couple of smaller towns. I don't recall seeing any sort of place where you could get medical attention. Here, there are hospitals all over the place, so I can access that quite quickly. I don't know how quickly that could happen if I was in a farm in one of the poor provinces here.

I think that will always be a problem because of just how big the country is, how densely populated it is. They have to put their resources where a lot more people are.

Are you covered by the public health care system or how does this apply to foreigners working in China?

I know we have some medical coverage. I have a medical card, so if something happens, I'll be covered to an extent. To what degree, I'm not sure. Knock on wood, I haven't had any problems. But that's one of the things that's given to us – a medical card. If you have to go to a hospital, you give them this. And I guess, we would go to a different hospital because obviously, the language barrier would be the biggest problem. You don't want to be possibly misdiagnosed because of the language problem or maybe not understand what they're saying. I think that's one of the things they make sure of, that we go somewhere we can communicate with the medical professionals.

What about private health care?

Well, it is available. Before most of the things here were government-run but now things have started to change. They have some more private clinics. It seems everything here's private. It just depends on how much you can afford.

How do people perceive the health care system? Do they see it as generally effective or...

I think most do. I haven't had any problems. I can tell you one story about a friend of mine, who unfortunately had a brain aneurysm while he was at work. So we took him immediately to the hospital. They operated on him and then he was fine. But it seemed after that, he was regressing, so his family wanted to bring him back to Canada. So, that's what they did. But when we went to visit him, everything seemed fine. I think the decision to bring him home had to do with the language. His parents wanted him closer to home and a place where they could understand what was going on. For the most part, I think you're getting the same sort of medical treatment that you'll get in the Western world. They have top professionals from all over the world.