Asian visitor does not feel at home without safety mask

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Ying Lee is going to take a while to get used to not having to worry about catching Sars.

Although the Hong Kong dentist, in Auckland for a five-day stay, knows New Zealand is not riddled with the deadly virus like other countries, she was still a little anxious.

And she was not quite ready to get rid of the mask that she had become accustomed to wearing in Hong Kong, where the virus has infected at least 1600 people and killed 162.

"In Hong Kong most people wear masks," she said. "Probably about 90 per cent of people."

Ying Lee's flight was one of a number that came into Auckland Airport from Asia last week.

People coming off the Hong Kong flight were anxious about Sars - many were still wearing their masks or had them around their necks.

Aucklanders Jason Linnell and Anya Kussler had stopped at Hong Kong on their way to and from Sri Lanka.

Mr Linnell said Hong Kong's usual vibrancy had disappeared.

"Hong Kong is just dead. The whole place is empty - it's a bit like a ghost town."

Eva Sun, from Shanghai, and classmate Grace Zhou, from Beijing, were heading back to Hamilton and their studies.

However, they thought they would probably quarantine themselves for 10 days before attending any classes.

The pair said they became nervous on the aircraft when they saw the cabin staff all wearing masks.

Passengers coming off the flights from Singapore - the third-most-affected country with at least 22 deaths and 199 cases - were considerably more relaxed.

Sheila Fleming and Joan Watson, both from England, stayed in Singapore for three nights.

They said they were slightly apprehensive at first, but the disease was being so carefully managed in the country that they relaxed.

Singapore has gone for two straight days without a new case, raising hope that tough measures have contained the illness.

Mrs Watson said the most noticeable thing was how few tourists there were.

"A girl in the hotel said they had 50 per cent fewer guests.

"On one tour we went on there were only eight people, and six on another," she said.

"They are really suffering badly economically."

Another tourist from Singapore said that at the hotel where she stayed workers had their temperatures taken each day and wore badges saying "I'm fever-free today".

And Susie Groves, who returned from France to Auckland via Singapore, said she had filled out forms before she arrived in Singapore declaring whether she had been in contact with anyone suffering from Sars - but no one had collected them from her.