SARS risk pupils quarantined in UK
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Eton is one of the schools taking part in the quarantine program
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LONDON, England -- About 150 boarding school pupils arriving back in Britain from Asia have been taken to quarantine camps in case they have the SARS virus.
The children have been transferred to two camps where they will be kept isolated from the public for 10 days and subjected to medical tests.
One camp is in Dorset, southwestern England, and the other on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.
Only if they show no symptoms after 10 days will the children be allowed to return to their schools for the start of the summer term.
Some of Britain's most prestigious schools, including Eton, are taking part in the quarantine program.
In a letter sent to parents last week, Eton headmaster Tony Little wrote: "On the advice of our school doctor ... we cannot accept boys back into their boarding houses who have visited Hong Kong, Singapore or Guangdong province, China, within the previous 10 days.
"This decision will cause inconvenience to some families, for which I apologize, but it is made in the best interests of all our boys. This is a changing situation which we will continue to monitor."
Adrian Underwood, national director of the Boarding School Association, said: "There are no winners here. It's a rotten situation and the timing is atrocious what with the onset of GCSE and A-level examinations.
But he added: "This is an outbreak that has to be managed."
The BSA has told schools to take the action they deem necessary in "unprecedented and volatile circumstances" to safeguard the interests of all their pupils.
But a spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region told the UK Press Association it was "quite concerned" about the restrictions adopted by some schools, including Eton.
The spokesman said it would only cause "undue stress" to both students and parents.
