BREAKING NEWS

US students to be released from China quarantine

Dozens of American high school students quarantined in a central Chinese city after some of their classmates were diagnosed with swine flu have been cleared for release, an employee of the city's swine flu command center said Thursday. Thirty-five students and teachers quarantined at the Ruihao Hotel in Yichang city were to go to Shanghai later Thursday, said the employee, who would only give his surname, Chen. Seven others in the group from the private Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, California, tested positive for swine flu and were hospitalized in stable condition. Chen said one of the seven, a 15-year-old Taiwanese boy, had recovered and would be picked up by his father Thursday. The Americans could not be reached by phone, and the US Embassy in Beijing had no immediate comment about the group.