May 12, 2009

China must keep AH1N1 from spreading, President Hu Jintao said Monday (May 12) following confirmation of China's first case of AH1N1, state television reported Monday (May 11).

Hu's remark came as the State Council, the highest executive body, also said Monday it will step up its efforts against AH1N1, both state television and radio reported in primetime broadcasts.

In a meeting on AH1N1 chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday, the State Council concluded the authorities need to step up their efforts to prevent and control the disease, which directly relates to people's livelihoods, and the stable and relatively rapid development of the economy, state television said.

The State Council reiterated China will strengthen its border checks, particularly of people and equipment coming from AH1N1-hit areas, and called for the early reporting of any suspect situation, in a list of efforts it first announced last month.

China's first confirmed case of AH1N1 was a 30-year-old university student in the US, who flew from St. Louis via St. Paul, Minnesota, to Tokyo before boarding Northwest Airlines flight NW029 to Beijing Saturday, Chinese health officials said Monday. The sick man then took an internal flight to Chengdu, the capital of western China's Sichuan province.