Quarantined hotel guests released in Hong Kong

Per Xinhua, local authorities lifted a quarantine on the Metropark Hotel in Wanchai, Hong Kong, on Friday, allowing nearly 300 guests to leave after being held for a week. A Mexican man staying at the hotel was found to have swine flu, prompting the shutdown.

Twitterers in Hong Kong and China have been closely following the case, providing updates on the situation and personal accounts.

1. 
   klustout (Hong Kong) Party time? Balloons and yes, McMeals, delivered to quarantine "guests" at HK's Metropark hotel http://is.gd/x5ff #H1N1 06 May 2009 from web
2. 
   Shaun_Sinniah (Hong Kong) @PeterYEAH friend of mine was getting a tat in a hotel and ended up, a guy with swine flu was staying there...got quarantined for a week 07 May 2009 from TwitterFox in reply to PeterYEAH
3. 
   patriklockne (China) People released from quarantine in HK hotel speak of "love, lust and laughter". Will there be a movie? http://tinyurl.com/pme4m9 (paywalled) 08 May 2009 from web
4. 
   markmackinnon (Hong Kong) End of quarantine party at Hong Kong's Metropark hotel sounds like it was a blast: http://tinyurl.com/osu356 08 May 2009 from web
5. 
   dc68 (Hong Kong) Thinking that the crowd gathering around the MetroPark tonight is akin to eviction night at the Big Brother house. 08 May 2009 from mobile web
6. 
   AndreMartin (Hong Kong) With all the media buzz around the Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong, the world forgot there was another swine flu quarantine camp, in Sai Kung.. 08 May 2009 from twhirl
7. 
   scmp888 (Hong Kong) Take a look back at some of the videos from inside the quarantined Metropark Hotel in #hk http://is.gd/xJy9 Parties & not #swineflu it seems 08 May 2009 from web

Quarantined hotel guests released in Hong Kong

China takes precautions as swine flu hits Hong Kong

Per Xinhua, the first confirmed case of H1N1 swine flu has been detected in Hong Kong, prompting Chinese officials to shut down flights from Mexico to Shanghai, the travel route of the confirmed victim.

BBC adds that 300 people at the Hong Kong hotel the man was staying at are being quarantined and police wearing masks are guarding the hotel.

Twitterers in Hong Kong provided context about the impact of the case:

1. 
   Actress4life_hk (Hong Kong) The frist swine flu case just happened in Hong Kong..!!This is also the frist day of Golden week holiday a long weekend in HK!...Bad!!! 01 May 2009 from web
2. 
   HotJaney (Hong Kong) There's just been a confirmed case of Swine flu in Wan Chai in Hong Kong 2 hours ago. Everybody is wearing masks. 01 May 2009 from web
3. 
   ruisi1 (Hong Kong) Swine flu has hit the shores of Hong Kong! People here are ready to party like it's 2003. Bust out the masks and pass the sanitizer! 01 May 2009 from web

One Twitterer used the incident to voice frustration with mainland China.

1. 
   victorsteve (Hong Kong) the mainland chinese continue to bestow gifts on hong kong... they sent the first swine flu case across the border just yesterday... 01 May 2009 from web

Here's some other initial reaction from Hong Kong Twitter users:

1. 
   AndreMartin (Hong Kong) Either the Hong Kong hotel with a swine flu infected guest has also been sealed off communications or there is just no Twitter user inside.. 01 May 2009 from TweetDeck
2. 
   icycoldice (Hong Kong) Nooo!!! Swine Flu in Hong Kong, now waiting for the schools to close down. 01 May 2009 from TweetDeck
3. 
   kaylawebley (Hong Kong) 1st case of swine flu reported in Asia is in Hong Kong, in my neighborhood nonetheless. 300 people quarantined. Time to break out the mask? 01 May 2009 from web
4. 
   caitlinx852 (Hong Kong) can't believe this swine flu [expletive] is in hong kong :(
   what a bad summer this is going to be! 01 May 2009 from web

China takes precautions as swine flu hits Hong Kong

North Korea rejects U.N. statement, six-party talks

Per Market Watch, North Korea condemned the latest statement from the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday and stated it will break off six-party talks and restart its nuclear program.

Initial reaction from Twitterers in East Asia showed that some were surprised by the developments and others were not:

1. 
   XIEZIJIE (Ningbo, China) RT @BreakingNews: BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA SAYS IT WILL BOYCOTT SIX-PARTY TALKS.！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！ 14 Apr 2009 from twhirl
2. 
   klustout (Hong Kong) NKorea foreign ministry after condeming UN statement: "We have no choice but to further strengthen our nuclear deterrent..." #nkorea 14 Apr 2009 from web
3. 
   DavidFeng (Beijing, China) Thinking of leaving Twitter again now that North Korea's thinking of giving up the ghost re: the six-party talks. 14 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck
4. 
   tonyhen (Hong Kong) north korea restarts nuclear weapons programme - w3hat do you expect you (Japan-US) Twits 14 Apr 2009 from Tweetr
5. 
   alansoon (Singapore) North Korea quits 6-party talks to protest UN statement 14 Apr 2009 from TwitterFox

Related Breaking Tweets story:
U.N. to condemn North Korea launch, April 11, 2009

North Korea rejects U.N. statement, six-party talks