Global reactions on swine flu

Reactions really vary. What I heard so far, either on TV or from frds or colleagues:

1. NY colleague - "what is it called swine flu? Did it come from pigs?"

2. Los Angeles frd - "No panic emails at work yet, no HR notice; but I am staying home"
3. HK doctor - "it's only a day away... well we've seen it before"

4. HK fund manager - "this is bad....SELL!"

5. Munich colleague - "not a big deal...right?"

6. Korea colleague - "really, here in Korea already?"

7. WHO official - "we cannot contain it"

8. Barack Obama - "we need to be prepared, but not overreact"

9. US fund manager - "this is over-reaction; just like SARS last time, this is no big deal"

10. HK frequent traveler - "why are you afraid?"

11. US colleague - "I am not worried...until I found out my kid just transit through Mexico on his school trip"

12. Sao Paulo colleague - "we are quite worried...I just got back from Mexico last week...luckily no one in Mexico office is infected so far"

The scenes on TV are way too familar - masks, jammed hospitals, empty streets and resturants....the images raised fear deep down for many of us; indeed SARS is not too-distant memory. Have to say this time we are much better prepared - if we take Mexico's official annoucement as the starting point rather than the real outbreak. But many reports already pointing out that the Mexico government has covered up the outbreak in its earliest dates.

Technology in the middle of this too. Not just breaking news update by the minute, but also multiple Google maps showing where the flu has spreaded to - this is one of them. Some are free for all users to post (but must be linked to a published article to validate), while some are restricted. Interesting to see web 2.0 at play.