The woman who evaded coronavirus checks to fly to France

Chinese tourist says she evaded coronavirus checks to fly to France

Chinese embassy in Paris urges citizens to comply after woman tells of travelling from Wuhan

the Guardian,

23 January, 2020

The Chinese embassy in France has urged its citizens to comply with airport coronavirus checks after a woman from Wuhan said she had evaded screenings in order to fly to France and dine in restaurants there.

The woman told on social media how she took fever medicine to mask flu-like symptoms to bypass temperature checks. Wuhan has temporarily shut down public transport to contain the deadly virus.

She wrote: “I had a fever and a cough before I left – I was so scared. I quickly took some medicine and checked my temperature. Luckily the temperature was controlled and I had a smooth journey through the border.”

She wrote: “I had a fever and a cough before I left – I was so scared. I quickly took some medicine and checked my temperature. Luckily the te

Authorities were alerted to her post after it was criticised by social media users, and the Chinese embassy in France put a message on its website on Wednesday evening urging citizens in China to comply with border checks.

“Our embassy has received multiple phone calls and emails from Chinese nationals regarding a woman from Wuhan who posted on social media about deliberately taking fever medication in order to evade the airport temperature checks,” it said.

The embassy said it had contacted the woman and asked her to refer herself to French emergency services.

Although French authorities do not yet know when she arrived or what airport she travelled through, they said they were introducing measures to separate passengers arriving in the country with a fever and refer them to emergency health personnel.

More than 500 cases of the virus, which is thought to be a new strain of coronavirus, have been confirmed, and 17 people have died. Cases have been reported in Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, the US, Japan, and South Korea.