Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Swine Flu Update

The swine flu may have reached Chetumal, Mexico with 5 suspected cases in the hospital. They have closed the schools and have advised people to stay home for a while. I´m seeing about 1 in 10 people wearing the surgical masks. For myself I´m not high risk since I hardly ever leave the house anyway and I promised myself when I moved to Mexico to not stick my fingers in my mouth. I am most concerned with Belize closing its border with Mexico, that would really mess things up.
So I´m making preparations for a long quarantine, stocking up on food and medicine and hunkering down. My gut feeling is that as usual the media overblows everything and that its not as bad a they make it seem, but on the other hand...

4 comments:

Carol E. said...

Lee -
Great to hear from you. FYI, on some of the "better" newspapers websites up here, I've read that it's a big puzzle why the flu seems to be so lethal in Mexico but not so bad in the cases of people in the US. One idea is that it's a not-so-bad flu that may be pretty widely spread in Mexico already, and in a few cases either an immune system wasn't strong enough, or it could be one of the frequent variations that the flu can generate, i.e. one is more toxic. Conjecture -- but I think it's comforting to consider that lots and lots of people may have this particular flu strain without getting that sick. Phew!

Carol E.

Unknown said...

Belize has taken a next step into preventing the transmission of Swine Flu into with country. With 4 suspected cases in the country today, Belize has canceled all "Large Public Gatherings" until the Warning has been lifted. The Belize/Mexico Border has not been closed as of yet but that might eventually change if the A/H1N1 reaches the Pandemic Stage. So, I would advise everyone to start making preparations and to obtain the necessary materials in order to out dwell this Virus. H1N1 will arrive at Level 6 at this week's end in which most schools, businesses and institutions will be closed. Brace yourselves and take care. P.S (Belizean 4 Life)

Anonymous said...

Good Plan Lee. Thanks for the update. We were just a teensy bit worried. MB and G.

Caribbean Colors Belize said...

I´m at Office Depot in Chetumal getting my email and all of the cashiers, security, and general workers have on the blue masks. I´m sticking with my plan of not putting my hands in my mouth, not going out very often, and washing my hands after going out. Mexican news last night said that things should return to normal by May 5. However, my spanish isn´t so great and they might have said that things will be really bad by May 5. So, I´m just sticking to my doomsday plan. I have told Bigness though, that he can´t eat pork products for a year. Little white lies never hurt anyone and I´m tired of seeing him eat bacon sandwiches 3x a day.