Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joy St. John??

Over the past week, another eight confirmed cases of Influenza A (H1N1) were recorded in Barbados. That is according to the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joy St. John, who pointed out, however, that two of these confirmed cases were persons aboard a visiting cruise ship.??

According to the CMO, these persons, and those who were in direct contact with them, were not allowed to disembark the vessel.

The Ministry of Health reports all confirmed cases to the World Health Organisation (WHO), including those reported on cruise vessels in our waters.

While noting that all of the persons who had been confirmed on the island, had now recovered from their illness, Dr. St. John said: "The Ministry of Health is still urging the public to take the necessary precautionary measures so as to minimise the risk of contracting the H1N1 virus."

She assured that "the Ministry is maintaining its public awareness, surveillance and medical response efforts; as well as an ongoing undertaking to provide guidance for mass gatherings, as there are numerous summer camps, sporting events and travel groups on the island, and an increase in Crop Over activities."

Dr. St. John reminded members of the public that the Ministry had published a set of guidelines that should be observed during mass public events. These have been passed on to the summer camp organisers and the relevant Crop Over bodies. They can also be found on the websites https://www.gisbarbados.gov.bb/ and http://www.gov.bb/.

Barbados has now reported a total of 20 confirmed cases of Influenza A (H1N1) to the WHO since the first one was registered last month.

The latest figures (July 6, 2009) put out by the WHO showed that 135 countries have reported 94,512 cases of Influenza A (H1N1), including 429 deaths.

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