Club Med offers sickened guests compensation after virus outbreak

Chinese prosecutors will clarify offense levels in crimes committed by juveniles to properly align punishments with the severity of the criminal acts, the nation’s top prosecuting authority said on Tuesday.

The work plan of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate for 2018-22, which it posted on its website, also vowed to take innovative steps to prevent such crimes.

The plan said the levels of offenses by juveniles will be classified, and offenders will be punished in line with the prescribed levels.

It also said consideration is being given to setting up a database of people with a record of harming children.

“Juveniles are our future. Keeping them from harm and offering them a safe environment to grow up in is our duty,” the top procuratorate said.

It said it will continue to dispatch prosecutors to schools to explain the law and help children better understand how minor offenses can become crimes, as well as how to protect themselves against predators.

Wang Jingyuan, a prosecutor responsible for handling juvenilerelated cases in Beijing’s Dongcheng district procuratorate, welcomed the plan. She said the new measures are necessary and will help prevent crimes by juveniles.

“Juvenile offenses are in urgent need of classification, as the level relates to the punishment an offender should receive,” Wang said. “The more accurate the punishment is, the easier it is to correct young people.”

She said more attention is often paid to rectifying juveniles’ behavior after they commit crimes, “but we often ignore children who commit minor offenses or illegal acts at an early stage, let alone help them through correction.”

In December, the case of a 12-year-old boy who was sent back to school in Hunan province after killing his mother sparked public concern.

“But under the Criminal Law, we couldn’t do anything, as it sets 14 as the statutory age for criminal liability,” Wang said.

The boy was eventually placed under the joint guardianship of his family, the public security department and educational authorities, because he is too young to be sent to juvenile disciplinary facilities that hold young offenders between 14 and 17.

“If the levels of juvenile offenses are classified, such problems, I believe, will be solved,” Wang said. “Some new punishments, such as community correction or voluntary labor, can be designed and applied in line with the offense level and age.”

Pi Yijun, director of the Youth Crime and Justice Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law, said: “It is essential to make distinctions between small mistakes, minor offenses and crimes when we are dealing with children’s problems. The earlier we clarify the problems and take corrective steps, the more effective it will be for us to prevent children from committing crimes.”

Both experts said the levels of classification will take some time to develop, as the issue needs more study by the authorities.

“So, before that, every juvenilerelated department, especially schools, should strictly carry out their own rules,” Pi said.

For instance, when a school finds a student is cutting classes or beating classmates, “it must take urgent steps to punish him or her in a timely manner to prevent such behavior from becoming serious”, he said.

The Club Med Yabuli ski resort in Yabuli, Heilongjiang province, promised on Tuesday to pay guests triple the cost of their stay as compensation if they were affected by an outbreak of norovirus, a common cause of acute gastrointestinal illness.

Transportation and treatment costs will be also covered by the compensation, the company said in a statement posted on social media.

The club has suspended the reception of new guests and a professional health team has been sent to Yabuli to deal with the outbreak.

Eight tourists at the resort tested positive for norovirus, Harbin’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.

On Feb 4, Chinese New Year’s Eve, some guests at the resort began to exhibit symptoms that looked like food poisoning, including vomiting, diarrhea, stomachache and low fever.

Some tourists staying at the resort said more than 200 guests had fallen ill as of Sunday.

Soon after receiving reports of the symptoms, an investigation team organized by Harbin’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention arrived at the club and registered the information of 42 tourists who said they felt uncomfortable.

Eight people were treated at nearby hospitals, but no one was admitted, the center said.

“I spent 25,400 yuan ($3,600) on a five-day trip for my husband, son and me at the club, including dining, accommodations and skiing,” a 37-year-old tourist surnamed Liu from Shanghai said. “I am a loyal customer of Club Med and have had wonderful experiences in the past, so even though I felt it was a little expensive, I chose it without hesitation.”

Liu described her subsequent experience.

“In the afternoon on Saturday, I felt uncomfortable and began to have diarrhea and vomiting. I thought I was unaccustomed to the climate of a new place and decided to have some porridge from the club’s cafeteria for supper,” she said.

“However, I found several tourists doing the same thing when I arrived at the cafeteria. After a short chat, we found we were suffering from the same condition.”

Liu’s husband and two other tourists began to inquire room by room and found that members of more than 20 families had the same symptoms.

“We suspected it was food poisoning and asked the club to deal with the case as soon as possible,” said Liu, who left the resort on Sunday morning. “So far, the club has given me no explanation or solution.”

Liu told China Daily on Tuesday that she had not received any notification about compensation from Club Med.

Another female tourist, surnamed Wang, said some children had vomited in the public area, and the cleaners had mopped it up in a cursory manner, without using any disinfectant.

The club closed its cafeteria on Monday and offered guests packaged meals and instant noodles.

“We have started an investigation of water and food to try to find out the cause of the virus as soon as possible,” Club Med said on Monday afternoon. “At the same time, strict prevention measures, including thorough disinfection, are underway.”

A male guest surnamed Li said he had received a notice from Club Med on Tuesday morning listing the items eligible for compensation, but he said no details were included about how to apply for it.

“I hope they can settle the case properly and quickly,” he said.

Club Med, a global resort brand, was acquired by Fosun Tourism Group in 2015 and is the company’s biggest revenue generator.