Playa Del Carmen Forum & Riviera Maya Forums

From the ringing of the phone more frequently than usual today regarding upcoming vacation plans to the area and the well reported "Swine Flu" outbreak in Mexico I thought since we have a little more information it would be prudent to make a post.

This post is "UNOFFICIAL" as at the present local health department officials have not returned our calls and we are planning a visit to the office in Playa Del Carmen tomorrow.

Here is what we know right now.

Since late last week in Mexico City and the State of Mexico some 1,500 miles from Cancun and the Riviera Maya schools and office buildings as well as enclosed areas where the public in general gather were closed do to an outbreak of the "Flu", it is important to note that it is NOT the SWINE FLU per se, it is a new strain of Flu that appears to be a mix of Swine, Human and Bird flu which unlike most cases of the Swine Flu can be passed from human to human.



Today schools at the National Level have been ordered closed until May 7th, my daughter today advised that in school the health officials reported that there is the possiblilty of closing movie theaters and other enclosed gathering places including the possible closing of nightclubs. This is unconfirmed of course but since she is 16 and really upset that there will be no school and no movies I guess there must be truth to it .

Always one of the issues in Mexico information is sometimes not accurate since the government doesn't want to let the world know sometimes how bad things are. at the present since Saturday the Federal Health Officials have reported 143 deaths directly related to the Outbreak and reporting more than 4 thousand confirmed and presumed cases mostly in Mexico City and Mexico State (border states with each other). There were as of yesterday 4 confirmed cases in Quintana Roo (we don't know from where) and today the newspaper Por Esto is reporting 130 cases in Quintana Roo.

What to do if you have vacation plans?

That question is a personal one, we are finding that right now that travelers are calling our toll free numbers looking for information and advice. The best advice we can give is don't change your plans as we are not seeing an "epidemic" and the outbreak seems very isolated to Mexico City. We do suggest however that you continue to monitor the news and our forum if you like to get up to date information on what is going on locally here but at the present time I don't see the need to be concerned. Actually the CDC and WHO is reporting that there are more confirmed cases in the US than any other country so maybe if you weren't considering a vacation, you should .

We will keep the thread alive until the situation changes.

There is not alot to report this morning as information (real information) can be sketchy or non-informative.

Today there are 156 reported deaths from the virus, 4 of those were in the State of Mexico and the other 152 were in Mexico City (as what is being reported). There are a total of 1,600 confirmed cases (numbers from the Govt.) and according to the Secretary of health 40% of those have been discharged from the hospital.

Oddities in the information (is that a word ) is that now the first confirmed case or earliest confirmed case is in a remote mountain area of the State of Veracruz some 90 minutes from the Veracruz capitol of Xalapa in a town called PEROTE. The case was prior to the April 6th detection in Mexico City and was a 5 year old boy detected with the virus, treated and at home. First authorities reported that the boy was the first case "hospitalized" but the mother when interviewed by Televisa stated that it was a lie, that her son was never in the hospital. It wasn't until last week that she was advised that it was the "swine flu" and authorities arrived to check the family and a local pig farm. All of the residents of the small mountain community and the pig farm were given a clean bill of health. Isolated case? who knows.

Like the US there are several states that are finding cases or suspected cases of the virus like Quintana Roo who are researching "4" cases. At the present time there are no "confirmed" cases in Quintana Roo, just suspected cases.

It concerns me that the CDC in the US would place a warning against visiting Mexico in general because of the outbreak since all officials are saying it is a little premature to say that this is an epidemic and we picked up from the BBC that some countries are using thermoscanners to screen passengers arriving from Mexico into their countries.

Mexico City is discussing the possibility of closing the subway system as a precaution. Obviously milliones of persons use the system daily from all social levels to move around Mexico City (I as well used it daily) and it is without a doubt the breading ground for all kinds of germs. The general ambient in a subway is Warm, humid and little ventilation, add to that a million or so passengers each rush hour cramming into those cars. Soccer attendance has been suspended and the match in Cancun scheduled for today has been rescheduled for May 12th.

We have had no response to the rummer of closings of the movies or night clubs as yet but are expecting to have that comfirmed or denied today.

As we find out more, we will keep you updated.

A quick update:

The European Unions Health Minister Androulla Vassiliou has stated "I do not see any need to issue travel restrictions at this point".

Her statement at a press conference discussing the cases in Denmark, Sweden, Greece, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and the Irish Republic.

She commented also that she was aware that tests are being carried out on individuals or groups in Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia and South Korea.

Again, I think the US was fast to issue a travel alert to Mexico; What's your opinion?

Quick Update:

Apparently Italy is the first country who will suspend flights arriving from Mexico beginning Saturday May 2, 2009. The Italian Embassy has advised Italian citizens residing and traveling in Playa Del Carmen that beginning Saturday flights will be suspended from arriving in Italy from Mexico due to the Influenza situation.

At the same time the WHO has not upgraded the condition from Level 4 to Level 5 while it waits to see how quickly human to human spread is.

World health authorities are concerned that Mexico is the only Country with deaths and based on reported cases vs mortality rate we are looking at nearly 8% mortality (according to Dr. Sanjay Gupta from CNN who is in Mexico City following the story for CNN). The other concern is that the fatal cases are young persons who should have a good resistance to the flu instead that is where the mean age is located (16 years old).

Mexico City has ordered the closing of Bars, Night Clubs, Museums, Movie Theaters and ordered restaurants and eating establishments to only offer take out. There is no seated restaurant service in Mexico City as of today. Mexico Citys Mayor is talking with goverment officials on shutting down all public transportation which will literally shut down Mexico City for business since as I mentioned earlier millions of commuters use the Mexico Subway daily to get back and forth to work and school.

We were expecting a news conference at 8PM from Mexico City and will update again after that has taken place.

Morning Update:

While we are getting all of the information here is the information from this mornings News Conference in Mexico City.

Yesterday in Mexico City there were 346 cases presented with symptoms of the new strain of flu, 20 cases more than the day before (one of the factors that the WHO watches), of the 346 cases 1 died within hours of arriving and 32 were admitted in serious condition.

The US had their first death from the Flu but the result is that the 2 year old who died in Texas was a Mexican child who was sent to Houstan for medical treatment for an unrelated illness.

The Mayor of Mexico City in the press conference today advised everyone that he will not shut down Mexicos Mass Transit or public transportation systems. Contrary to what Federal officials were stating yesterday but today all drivers and passengers of all public transportation must wear face masks and surgical gloves or they cannot board the transportation. Drivers or conductors allowing passengers to board will be subject to having their vehicles impounded. The regulation also applies to Taxi and Airport Transportation in Mexico City.

Yesterday I commented about Italy shutting down flights arriving from Mexico, it seems that a few other countries are following along that same line.

Cuba is suspending arrivals with passengers from Mexico for the weekend, Argentina has suspended arrivals until May 6, 2009 and Air Canada in a weird move that only Canadians can understand are suspending all flights to and from Cancun, Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta until June 1, 2009 but flights to Mexico City will continue.

Here is a quote from their website.


If there is a Canadian out there who can explain that one to me please do.

Quick Update on Tour and Activity Cancellations:

The Federal Govt. has closed ALL Arqueological sites in the country until further notice. If you have a tour planned to Chichen Itza, Tulum, Coba or any of the many sites in Mexico we urge you to contact your tour operator as the locations are not going to allow admission.

Sorry

OK,

So there wasn't really a need to update you all on every little bit of redundent information and chit chat that the govt. and health officials are talking about since most of it is useless or just of little value.

El Universal (Mexico Newspaper where our very own Luis Frias is editor) reported in todays edition that Cancun has had its first death from the Flu Virus that is sweeping the globe right now. El Universal is reports this morning that although there are no facilities locally to test for this strain of Flu the 68 year old man presented all of the characteristics of this new strain as do 14 other cases that have also been sent to Mexico City for testing bringing the total cases in Cancun to 54 (probable cases) and 14 additional samples have been sent to Mexico City for testing along with the dead man's.

One problem that exists is the backlog in Mexico of samples to be tested, there are only 2 labs in all of Mexico and many of the confirmed cases and confirmed deaths from the strain are coming because samples are finally being tested that have been sent. The numbers that the CDC in the US are giving on Mexico's infected and dead are from samples that were sent to the CDC for testing.

The economic impact on tourism in Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya has so far been staggering. While European tour operators this weekend have been "evacuating" tourists from their country home for screening and testing for the Flu and Canadian Airlines and Charter Services have cancelled flights and tours to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and the Riviera Maya until June 1, 2009. Schools remain closed and working parents struggle to keep up with taking care of the kids at home and finding a way to balance that with working.

Last night we took a few hour tour of Playa Del Carmen's 5th Avenue and Beach Clubs to sort of take the pulse of the city, we found that 90% of the people that we talked to on 5th Avenue were Mexican's either locals taking advantage of the lull in tourism or from areas close by taking advantage of the long weekend. Restaurants were empty or near empty as were bars and even some stores were closed completely.


Los Rancheros Restaurant on near Paseo del Carmen a few steps from Carlos & Charlies was literally empty with one couple dining in the popular restaurant and more amazing was the lack of noise or music coming from Carlos & Charlies which is normally bustling with tourists.


Another normally popular restaurant at the center of Playa Del Carmens 5th Avenue in front of the Boston Grill and Liverpool was empty as was the Boston Grill and Liverpool the largest retail chain in Mexico remained closed.


Boston Grill


Mexico's Largest Retailer Closed the Playa Del Carmen store due to lack of sales this week.

The photos go on and on of empty restuarants, zones normally filled with tourists and of course clubs. We will continue to keep you up to date on whats happening with the "Flu Epidemic" that isn't as we have information.