The death count is 2 in Mauritius and I don't wanna add "till date". The first victim was a woman in her fifties and now a 4-year old girl. I wonder how many deaths it'll take for authorities to be a little proactive.
It seems like some mild measures have been taken by companies and schools to protect from any contagion, they were perhaps thinking that we're above all viruses. But now that the virus has made 2 victims and there are 29 confirmed cases of the flu, I guess radical solutions need to be adopted soon.
The Ministry of Health has arranged for what they call "flu clinics" in hospitals across the island. Those are simply sections reserved solely for the treatment of A H1N1 patients. We might use the word "quarantine" here, which is arguably, given the present situation, a good idea.
It seems like some mild measures have been taken by companies and schools to protect from any contagion, they were perhaps thinking that we're above all viruses. But now that the virus has made 2 victims and there are 29 confirmed cases of the flu, I guess radical solutions need to be adopted soon.
The Ministry of Health has arranged for what they call "flu clinics" in hospitals across the island. Those are simply sections reserved solely for the treatment of A H1N1 patients. We might use the word "quarantine" here, which is arguably, given the present situation, a good idea.
I hope that this virus is contained soon and that adequate information is sent out to the population. From what I have seen, the Ministry is sending suited-up untrained PRs to communicate news on how effective they were at preventing the virus from getting to our little island for 3 whole months.
Even though Mauritius got the virus 3 months after Mexico, we cannot call that an achievement. And now that the virus is here, it seems quite irrelevant to bring that up when people are worried about the death count. Strangely the death count itself was not much mentioned, only stuff like "what is certain about this virus is that it is uncertain" were emphasised on and I feel that there's no worst statement to trigger more panic among the population.
Even though Mauritius got the virus 3 months after Mexico, we cannot call that an achievement. And now that the virus is here, it seems quite irrelevant to bring that up when people are worried about the death count. Strangely the death count itself was not much mentioned, only stuff like "what is certain about this virus is that it is uncertain" were emphasised on and I feel that there's no worst statement to trigger more panic among the population.
Hell, weren't they supposed to reassure and inform the population? I know there's still some hope we can cling on to.
All we gotta do is take up our precautions and not be careless when it comes to the flu.
Update - 14.08.2009 - The death of a 3rd person was announced early morning today. The victim is a 30 year old man.
Naraindranath Gopee, President of the Government Secondary School Teachers Union has made an appeal towards the State to temporarily close down all schools to prevent the propagation of the A H1N1 virus.
I hope his appeal is heard. Right some some secondary schools are carrying out staff meetings to analyse the state of health of students and to decide on what is to be done.
It is scary indeed. I just hope we manage to deal with this situation.
ReplyDeleteYup, we just need plain old Mr. Competence. LOL!
ReplyDeleteA H1N1 really isn't as bad as it sounds.. While worse than your typical seasonal flu, it's nowhere near as bad as H5N1 (bird flu). We've already had the media scare here in Australia a couple of months ago. :P That being said, we did get a few thousand infected people, particularly in Victoria, with about 100 deaths so far..
ReplyDeleteSwine flu(H1N1) is not as bad as people are thinking. It has been overly hyped and badly reported by the press. The only people who are at serious risk from swine flu are the very young, elderly and immuno-compromised (i.e. those who already have an underlying illness). The symptoms are just like those of regular flu except with greater severity. It's important to remember that normal flu can kill people, the only difference with H1N1 is that it is highly contagious. I think more needs to be done in Mauritius to report on it and reassure the public. And also if, and it is if at the moment, things get worse there needs to be a plan in place to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the global picture, you can't stop this virus from spreading, here in the UK it's beyond control. Once this stage has passed, the emphasis should move onto treatment and what can be done to help those infected.
3 Ps: Plan.Prevent.Prepare.
@ Sham,
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I sound a little freaked out in this post.
Your comment is quite reassuring in fact. ;)
The thing is, I'm bothered by the death count and the fact that the virus is spreading rapidly plus the media is not much into comforting us about the virus. The news published are quite alarming!
@ Nav, yeah! There has been a serious communication problem regarding the virus in Mauritius. Can you imagine a representative of the Ministry of Health saying something like "what is certain about this virus is that it is uncertain" on TV? I mean how would this be interpreted by an already anxious population? They should have chosen their words properly in such a critical time.
ReplyDeletePeople might interpret the case as one where the virus is killing randomly and this will cause tremendous panic.
And proper information were provided in misted ways. Nothing sounded clear about what the MOH representative was saying.
same for me!!! :( there's one case in Madagascar now and about 40 deads in India anddddd in Bombay they have even closed the schools. Now imagine Mauritius what will happen next :(.
ReplyDelete@ Jess, I think the authorities should consider closing down schools by now! I'm scared of taking the bus. :(
ReplyDeletetoo much uncertainty around this virus. the moh pr persons are not sufficiently giving the right kind of information. people are panicking.
ReplyDeleteI just heard there was a 3rd victim who died early this morning.
ReplyDeleteThis is really starting to freak me out.
Schools and offices in the private and public sectors should take more serious measures and precautions.
Its been a while since we have the virus here in NZ, and it still freaks me out! It has been so hard for the authorities to manage that people are no longer being kept in quarantine or anything..
ReplyDeleteOne of our neighbours actually died of it :S
This disease is scaring everyone, trust me Morinn.. But it is certainly a NEW strain virus which was discovered a couple of months back. And about people dying, unfortunately people are also dying bcz of Coronary artery disease and diabetes EVERYDAY. The only difference is that H1N1 is a communicable disease but as for diabetes and coronary artery diseases we have time to enjoy life for about 10 to 20 years before we die. And the govt and health system is doing the maximum. The most important thing is ISOLATING the patient, which they are doing. There is no CURE for it. So unfortunately,they cannot do more than that. Now its upto the public to take their precautions. The same precautions that u take to prevent urself from getting a normal and ordinary flu. :)
ReplyDeleteSome words of reason here from Zarine.
ReplyDeletePRECAUTIONS is the underlying word. Same as the 3 Ps mentioned by Nav.
Don't let panick take over yourselves.
I understand the population's fear and panic. They've never faced such a thing before.
ReplyDeleteBut also to remember that people die of the complications of H1N1 like pneumonia or respiratory distress. It usually kills people who already have a debilitating disease. If u treat urself in time, ull be fine.
@ Steff, Angele, Vali and Yannick, I guess we'll have to stop panicking and start preventing! ;)
ReplyDelete@ Zarine, thanks for bringing in some details to this. :)
So we will have to take the regular precautions as when there are flus.
I'll still avoid going out unnecessarily in the coming days, just in case.
If u want to avoid going to some places, that would be Jeetoo and J.N.H hospital, cz i believe thats where we have the cases. Im sure ull be fine around ur area.
ReplyDeleteget ready to face it and take all the necessary precautions friends :)
ReplyDeleteOnly 0.4% of those who got the virus died in the UK. I don't know why in Mauritius the percentage varies from 10% to 13%. Perhaps more people got the H1N1 flu but did not go to the hospital and got treated at home or perhaps the future cases will not be fatal, thus decreasing the death percentage.
ReplyDeleteWe can now only take precautions and those at risk such as young children, elderlies and people having chronic diseases such as diabetes, bronchitis, asthma and other pulmonary diseases to double precautions.
H1N1 flu is like any flu. The normal flu kills people too. Just take precautions and if you are at risk, consult a medical practitioner for advice.
Good luck to everyone.