The swine flu scare has subsided and the news tonight is that there are still no confirmed cases of the virus in Belize. At a press conference today Director of Health Services Michael Pitts confirmed that Belize is free of H1N1. We spoke to him after the press conference.
Dr. Michael Pitts, DHS
“We have no confirmed cases, we had 46 tests, they all came back negative. Yesterday we sent one further test for a person of interest but I believe we are fairly lucky. We are removing some of the restrictions that we had asked before so we are allowing mass gatherings but we are asking or we are putting some public health actions at some particular mass gatherings. For example the Agric show can go on but we will make sure that we have public health booths with health information etc. going on out there. Yet we still advise the public to keep up the hygiene, keep up the cough etiquette. If you have any flu like illness go to your nearest care provider. I think that is what is helping us well.”
A few additional notes: first, Pitts noted that the H1N1 influenza is considered to be about the same as the seasonal flu. He warned though that it could still mutate and that second strain could appear around September. Second, he noted that while they are removing the restriction on public gatherings, if swine flu is detected they may have to again limit public gatherings. And while the local threat has subsided Dr. Beverly Barnett of PAHO warned that PAHO’s level of alert could be upgraded because of the burgeoning epidemic in Japan.