Hong Kong Quarantines Entire Hotel

Hong Kong has quarantined an entire hotel after a guest was diagnosed with swine flu, the Wall Street Journal reports. The territory's chief executive said he opted to err on the side of caution in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease. Roughly 300 guests are trapped inside; they're allowed to roam freely through the hotel but are being encouraged to stay in their rooms and avoid contact. The patient is in isolation at a hospital.

Those who were in close contact with the patient are being quarantined separately. All guests will be treated with Tamiflu. It is the first instance of pig flu in East Asia, but SARS is still fresh in the region’s mind. That disease, which killed 299 in Hong Kong, was traced back to a single infected guest at a hotel in the Kowloon neighborhood. (More swine flu stories.)