CAIRO: Despite announcements of five more H1N1-infected students at the American University in Cairo’s Zamalek dormitory, the 140 students holed up there are finding boredom and frustration to be the greatest threats as they confront seven days under quarantine.
A dining schedule had been devised, and the university is providing meals in the cafeteria, albeit with masked and gloved servers. The laundry services and the computer lab are open for use.
Although much of the support staff is not allowed into the building, students ensured that necessary equipment was brought in to clean the bathrooms. Hand soap has been resupplied to bathrooms, though toilet paper remains a sought after commodity.
“Things are getting more efficient, said Phil Ryan, a student in the Seton Hall University study abroad program in Cairo, the same program in which the first two H1N1 cases at AUC are enrolled.
He said in a phone interview that some of the dormitory rules have also been relaxed. Students have been playing cards in public and some have taken off their shirts, in an environment that has, in the past, sought a more conservative tone.
The original two hospitalized Americans, as the five newly confirmed infected students, are part of the same law program, which is independent of other AUC courses. One of the five is a student assistant.
Indeed, Ryan’s program sought to resume classes yesterday via video chat with their professor, until Ministry of Health officials entered with the test results and walked out with three of the students, masks on mouths.
“One guy just looked at me and shrugged, Ryan said of one of the students escorted out.
Even the attempt to resume classes – necessary for the law school students in order to meet American Bar Association requirements – was a far cry from the foreign students’ expectations upon arriving in the city.
“We didn’t come to Cairo to sit in a dorm, Ryan said. The program had plans to visit Alexandria this weekend.
Inside the dorm, students were constantly awaiting more information. Questions and rumors swirled throughout the building, regarding everything from the test results to the dates of the quarantine to the lunch hour.
“The frustrating reality is there hasn’t been consistent or specific news, Ryan said.
“They aren’t informing students, said Samura Atallah, an AUC undergraduate living in the Zamalek dorm for the summer. She said in a phone interview that her main source of information was Egyptian state TV.
But neither the confusion nor the announcements of addition confirmed cases have caused panic among the students. Ryan said he has not observed a great sense of fear within the dorm beyond nervous laughter and joking. Among his program, students are interacting normally, though the circumstances provide little other option.
“For the most part, people are just resigned to knowing we are here, Ryan said. Fears of the virus spreading among those already confined are overshadowed by what Ryan described as a “consensus that this is a giant overreaction.
He said that he has been in touch with one of the virus-positive students, who is recovering comfortably, “while we’re rationing water and steeling toilet paper.
Anger is another prevalent sentiment, especially after realizing they are under a seven-day quarantine.
“Students are angry because they want to go out and see their families, Atallah said.
“Students are also angry because no one has cleaned the bathrooms and couches that the infected students were using. They told us that if they sent people in to clean they would have to extend the length of the quarantine.
They say they will clean the bathrooms themselves with supplies sent in.
Contact among students inside the dorm has not been restricted, however. Ryan described the screening of a film on Tuesday morning, and a continental breakfast in the cafeteria.
Anna Boch, an American student in the Arabic Language Institute at AUC, said in a phone interview that most students appeared calm, despite the severity of the situation. “The atmosphere of having all these ministry officials in surgical masks is kind of unsettling, she said. But, “I don’t think people are really afraid.
She explained that she overcame her fears of swine flu when she realized the relative low risk of swine flu developing into anything worse than the common flu.
In fact, she said, she was told that one of the students who tested positive for the virus was found by ministry officials working out in the gym.
But concerns abound. Atallah said she stayed in her room as much as she could, and acknowledged taking greater precaution following the announcement of additional confirmed cases. “People are more concerned now, she said.
Atallah said she expected more confirmations in the future, given the interaction among students. “They will definitely find more cases if they do tests now, she said. “All the people were downstairs socializing.
Without a positive test, the more pressing issue for Boch and most of the other students is how to fill their time.
“There’s been talk of playing charades, she said.
A courtyard, including a basketball court, provides students their only access to the outdoors.
Although AUC canceled classes until Sunday, Boch said she might have time to get some Arabic studying done. “We don’t really have anything else to do.
