Kuwait Airport H1N1 Flu Precautions
I got back to Kuwait just over an hour ago and got a shock when I was told I had to fill and sign some medical forms and then be tested for signs of the H1N1 flu! As we exited the plane there was a medical staff waiting for us with infrared thermometers along with some officials and they took a reading of all our temperatures before letting us pass through. Then, before getting to immigration, we had to sign documents and get them stamped stating that within the next 72 hours I would pass by a clinic to be examined or else I could face a 1 month prison sentence or a KD50 fine!
Not everyone coming to Kuwait has to go through this, only selected countries and I am guessing its countries that have had confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu like the Netherlands.
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33 Comments, add your own...
1. sAmUrAi | May 5th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Good to see Kuwaiti authorities taking pre-emptive measures for a change.
2. teach | May 5th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
My Mum came from the UK three days ago and only had the temp check?
No paper to sign.
How bizarre.
3. Frankom | May 5th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Welcome back !
4. teach | May 5th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
OOOOps we JUST found the paper LOOOOOOOOOOL.
My Mum is 77 and thought it was something silly not worth reading………2 hours away from a jail sentence….?OMG!
5. dj_will | May 5th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
1 month jail = 50 kd
that is wonderful !!
6. lomo-fan | May 5th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
i took that paper to my areas clinic today and the doctor simply laughed it off, i wouldn’t have bothered with it if it wasn’t for my mom’s nagging
anyway, unless you’re suffering from a symptom or two, they’ll ask you to come in 3 days after your first check to take your temperature again or when you feel something. its just precautionary and for your own good; but if you’re that paranoid then get a tamiflu shot and you’ll be immune from swine flue for good
7. salah | May 5th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Welcome back.
It’s strange you haven’t heard about those precautions, it’s been all over the Kuwaiti news.
I like how they’re reacting to this catastrophic flu.
8. teach | May 5th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Where do you get tamiflu?
9. Zuno | May 5th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
teach, make sure you don’t take Tamiflu except if you DO have flu symptoms. They say its bad for you if you just take it like that.
10. Mark | May 5th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
salah: I didn’t hear about it because I was out of Kuwait ;)
11. 2twentythree3 | May 5th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
It’s been all over ALL news. It was mandatory that ALL countries take precautions. As for Tamiflu, Kuwait only has enough to treat 33% of the population, front of Arab Times on Sunday morning so I doubt if you ask for it you will get it.
12. ar53nal14 | May 5th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Standard procedures, Mark. You didn’t eat any bacon there by any chance, did you? :D
13. Mark | May 5th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I don’t know how many times you traveled but this is not standard procedure. Standard procedure is you get off the plane you go straight to immigration.
14. NW | May 6th, 2009 at 12:03 am
My parents had to go to the same thing
15. 3azeez | May 6th, 2009 at 12:19 am
card should say health monitoring, not health surveillance!!
16. 3azeez | May 6th, 2009 at 12:22 am
tamiflu shot = swine flue immunity?! where do we get that? i have final year exams in less than four weeks and i can’t afford getting sick!
17. Nat | May 6th, 2009 at 12:45 am
It’s all over the News as well that you cannot get sick by eating pork products.
18. sAmUrAi | May 6th, 2009 at 1:09 am
It’s called the Mexican Flu in the Middle East.
…. so you only get sick by eating Mexicans!
19. Mark | May 6th, 2009 at 1:12 am
thats what they called it when we landed and i thought it was funny
20. Dakhtar Blue | May 6th, 2009 at 2:14 am
According to the WHO website, no vaccine against swine flu exists at the moment! Scientists are working on it yet it’s going to take at least 6 months to develop one!
Mark, if you wanna catch up with the swine flu outbreak-related news especially in Kuwait, feel free to check out my blog
http://www.localbenj.blogspot.com
I started a “special” coverage since the first few hours :-P
21. 3azeez | May 6th, 2009 at 3:33 am
I’m in the UK and it is called mexican flu here too. though mexico did complain about this and now i think they just refer to it as H1N1.
22. Lonely girl | May 6th, 2009 at 5:44 am
did any of you hear about the scare at NES?
Apparently somebody got peoples numbers around Kuwait, teachers included and said that a teacher from nes has swine flu and that the school would be closed. Two days later there was a big notice outside NES Reading ‘no teacher from The New English School has swine flu, thank-you’ I will get to you with more details on what the actual message read (:
23. kwt23 | May 6th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Mark, you shouldn’t be surprised. This is what SHOULD be done. I think it’s very important for such protocols to be taken, and I’m happy that Kuwait is doing so.
24. Maze | May 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am
welcome back…i guess it’s good what they’re doing
25. Asinine | May 6th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Fear the coming aporkalypse! A snoutbreak of epig proporktions!
26. Holla | May 6th, 2009 at 9:09 am
They can never tell who has swine flu in kuwait bc everybody is always sick all the time.
27. B | May 6th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Well they are taking their precautions!
28. wi-fi | May 6th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Finally the system works..
Welcome back to real life .. :)
30. wi-fi | May 6th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I guess not ..
http://www.alaan.cc/pagedetails.asp?nid=32860&cid=48
lol
31. george | May 6th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
LOL@#24…Good one
Its good to see Kuwait taking preventive/precautionary measures, although it may seem bothersome especially after a long flight, its for the good of all.
At least, you are still allowed to enter Kuwait. Imagine, if this outbreak had been in an Asian country and you had been visiting there somewhere, you probably wouldn’t even be allowed to board the flight.
32. radiant guy | May 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
the only stupid thing about that is 1 month in jail = 50 KDs.
33. kate | May 27th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
people!!! come on!!! there will no exceptions for checking.. weather you came from place that is not infected everybody should undergo on this medical process .. we are talkin about VIRUS!!! ITS VERY CONTAGIOUS!!!
pls.. wake up.. dont be stupid..
we have to take care of ourselves…
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