So all tests have been negative – does that mean that the public health scare and the across the board cancellation of public gatherings were an over-reaction? According to pandemic focal point Dr. Paul Edwards that may be what has made for the encouraging results.

Dr. Paul Edwards,
“All the decisions that were taken were evidence based. They were not decisions made from pulling out some factor from the cloud, they evidence based and based on experiences from past pandemics. So if we look at the other side of the coin, the probability could have been that if we had the Agriculture Fair we might be where we would have had cases confirmed in Belize because you’re saying you’ve got to take into consideration all the risk factors and those would have represented those risk factors and the probability could have been a high probability of having confirmed cases in Belize.”

And while the public health state of response has been ratcheted down – Edwards stressed that they remain vigilant, and encourages those with flu-like symptoms to go see the nearest doctor. Worldwide, the numbers continue to rise, as 25 countries have now officially reported 2500 cases H1N1 infection.