Trinidad and Tobago's National Under-17 footballers are safe and unaffected by the swine flu break-out sweeping Mexico and parts of the United States. The footballers are in Tijuana, in Northern Mexico, involved in the CONCACAF Under-17 Championships.
"We heard of it (swine flu break-out). But we are not affected, and as far as we know, neither are any of the teams competing in this tournament," McComie said. "Just about three players and myself had a bit of the 'ordinary' flu symptoms. As a result, Luke (Hernandez) was not able to play last night against Costa Rica. But we have a doctor (Dr Mario John) here with us and he was able to take care of us all."
McComie also reported that large crowds have turned out to the matches, a far cry from Mexico City where it is reported that football matches have had to be postponed for fear of spreading the disease.
Locally, medical teams to screen visitors coming into Trinidad and Tobago have been set up at Piarco and Crowne Point airports and at the ports in Port of Spain, Chaguaramas and Scarborough, following the World Health Oganisation's warning that an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico has "pandemic potential".
Ministry of Health communications director Theomary Karamanis and County Medical Officer in Tobago Mentor Melville both confirmed yesterday that the medical-screening teams were put in place at the ports of entry.
But president of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association Dr Solaiman Juman is calling on the Health Ministry to do more than just surveillance.
He said the Under-17 football team, currently in Mexico, needs to be carefully watched, and people here need to be educated on what they can do to prevent contraction of the deadly flu-like virus.
"This whole thing is like a slow-moving hurricane. It started out with the SARS virus, then the bird flu, however, they managed to control that. But until they identify what is the true genetic make-up of this virus, people need to be careful.
"Wash their hands regularly and be careful around people who are sneezing and coughing," he insisted.
Associated Press reports yesterday gave the number of deaths in Mexico City, the area that seems most badly affected as of yesterday, as 68 while hundreds more are sick. Officials in the United States have confirmed that at least ten people have been infected.
U-17s to be quarantined...amid swine flu concerns
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian)
The T&T Under-17 football team and technical staff will be quarantined on their return home today from Mexico where they participated in the Concacaf Under-17 Championships. This comes in the wake of the outbreak of the swine flu in Mexico City which has caused over 68 deaths and sickened more than 1,000 people since Thursday across Mexico and USA.
At a new conference held on Sunday at his Park Street office, Health Minister Jerry Narace said that the T&T Under-17 football team, now in Mexico “will be placed in an environment of quarantine,” on its return. Prior to leaving Mexico, the Under-17 management team has put in place some strict measures to limit contamination and /or spread during their travel.
On Sunday in a release from the T&T Football Federation it was stated that Dr Mario John, doctor for the T&T Under-17 team and son of former Government Minister Carlos John stated that all measures were being taken to ensure the fullest safety of the T&T players and staff as they prepare to return home via Panama City today around 4 pm. “Currently the technical staff is fully aware of the magnitude of the situation in Mexico and we will be doing our part to ensure the safety of the players,” said Dr John. “We have no players or members of technical staff that are showing any flu-like symptoms presently.
“We can assure the parents that the technical staff will be do everything in their power to limit cross contamination before we arrive into Trinidad,” he said on Sunday ahead of T&T’s final match against Guatemala in Tijuana—a 3-0 defeat. Concacaf took a decision yesterday to cancel the rest of the competition due to the outbreak. The team is expected to travel from Tijuana into Mexico City with face masks at all times and as the team arrives in Mexico everyone including technical staff will wear face masks until leaving Mexico and flying into Panama.
The T&T team will be escorted from gate to gate and no one from the team or technical staff will be allowed to roam about the airport. In addition, no one will be allowed to leave the group to get lunch as only two staff members will be allowed to acquire lunch for the team. The T&TFF media release added that the Under-17 staff will also try to set up a periphery to limit contact with crowds at the airport as no one will be able to leave the group.