Philippine Travel Promos » Swine Flu Updates

Swine Flu Updates in the Philippines

edelweiza19 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:40:25 +0000

The Swine flu pandemic seems to be tightening its grip on the Philippines. More and more Filipinos are getting affected by the dreaded A(H1N1) virus. In fact, one Filipino has died already due to Swine flu complications, the case being the first in Asia. This is alarming but I am confident it will soon go away, or better yet, get eliminated. The latest Swine flu update from the Department of Health dated June 24, 2009 on the fast recovery of Swine flu victims in the country is something that we should all be happy about:

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III today reported that 43 more A(H1N1) confirmed (mild) cases have fully recovered, bringing the total of fully recovered patients to 464. This figure represents 77% of the total confirmed cases recorded since May 21.

Duque also said that there are 131 more confirmed cases, all mild in nature, reported today. These new additional cases bring the sum of confirmed A(H1N1) cases to 604.

The new cases involved 66 females and 65 males. The age range of these cases is 2-67 years old, with 16 as median age. One hundred seventeen (117) of these cases are Filipinos, the remaining 14 are foreigners. Nineteen (19) of said cases have a history of travel to a country affected with the novel virus.

Duque reiterated to the public that the safest way to avoid getting the flu are through thorough hand washing and covering the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.

Source

I hope the situation becomes better soon and that this should not keep tourists from traveling to the Philippines, both for business and for pleasure. I am keeping my fingers crossed. For now, prayers for the fast recovery of Filipinos with Swine flu won’t hurt.

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Swine Flu Scare and Philippine Tourism

edelweiza19 — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:19:59 +0000

The A(H1N1) virus, better known as “swine flu,” has been causing panic and fear among people the world over since the day its first victim was reported. According to the news, there are already more than 9,000 cases of swine flu reported in 40 countries as of this week. Among them, Japan and Mexico top the number of Swine Flu deaths.

Just recently, the Philippines reported a single case of swine flu from a 10-year-old Filipina who came from the United States and Canada. She’s now out of danger but still under strict quarantine and observation. Members of her household, who had direct contact with her, also underwent quarantine and given preventive medications for health purposes.

It’s comforting to know that despite this news, we are still generally untouched by the virus. Is it our tropical weather that protects us from flu viruses, or are we just lucky? I think both.

On a related note, I admire the efforts of the Department of Health, through its head, Secretary Francisco Duque, in enforcing strict inspection procedures in our airports to detect virus carriers among inbound passengers.

We all know that aside from its negative effects to health, swine flu poses a serious threat to world tourism. Normally, as a precautionary measure, governments declare a travel ban to places where there are reported cases of swine flu.

I hope this Swine flu pandemic stops or better yet, the virus gets eliminated at the soonest time. I pray that we remain safe and our country continues to reap the benefits of a flourishing tourism industry. Or so the Department of Tourism claims. It’s been said over and again that tourism means jobs. Pinoys, especially our workers, need anything but diseases.

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