A group of students and teachers from a Maryland private school have been quarantined in China because of swine flu concerns, a school spokeswoman said Thursday, CNN reported.
The Chinese government has confined the 21 students and three teachers from the Barrie School to their hotel rooms in Kaili, China, because a passenger on their plane to China was suspected of having swine flu, said Vicky Temple, the director of communications for the Silver Spring, Maryland-based school.
Temple said the students and teachers are occupying two floors of a four-star hotel in the Guizhou province city, which is in southern China. The quarantine will end Friday, and the students are scheduled to return to the United States on Sunday, Temple said.
Mike Kennedy, the head of Barrie School, said U.S. consular officials have since told the school that the plane passenger does not have swine flu, or H1N1.
"So now our question has been for the last 24 hours, can this quarantine be lifted even sooner than sometime on Friday so these kids can get out and enjoy a little bit of China," he said.