It’s been 6 days since PAHO upgraded to a phase 5 alert and the H1N1 virus has still not been detected in Belize. Health authorities are awaiting the results of 14 more tests which have been sent to CAREC in Trinidad. Those results should be available tomorrow.

But of more pressing interest are reports we have received of a European who came from Mexico to Belize yesterday and started exhibiting respiratory difficulty. He is hospitalized at Belize Medical Associates and while Dr. Marcello Coyi would not discuss his history, he did confirm that a Frenchman who is hospitalized at medical was treated as a suspected case – because he came to Belize from Mexico. However, Coyi says that Medical Associates can now perform the rapid test which is 90% accurate and takes only half hour. And according to Coyi, that rapid test was negative for influenza A which is the H1N1 virus – so it is no longer considered a suspected case.

So, turning from that case to winder concerns, in the meantime, the decision has been taken to re-open the Corozal Free Zone starting tomorrow at 7:00 am. Casinos, bars and discotheques in the zone however will remain closed until next week Monday, May 11th. .

We note that the H1N1 virus has infected one man in Calderitas – which is just outside Chetumal. This is one of three confirmed cases in Quintana Roo; the other cases are one each in Carrillo Puerto and Cancun. There are another 50 cases being investigated in Quintana Roo. And while that’s the local situation, globally 21 countries have reported 1490 cases of H1N1. Mexico has reported 866 confirmed cases, including 26 deaths. The US has reported 403 cases, and two deaths.
According to Mexican officials, the swine flu outbreak has cost Mexico at least $2.2 billion over the past 10 days, the finance secretary announced Tuesday, mostly damage to tourism and agriculture sectors. That and the fact that cases there seem to have peaked are why Mexico is ending a five day nationwide shutdown tomorrow.