Cuba Wary Of Swine Flu, But Annual Parade Will Proceed
The traditional early morning event draws tens of thousands of marchers bused in on city vehicles from neighborhoods in 11 municipalities throughout the city and across the bay.
Smaller celebrations will be taking place in cities across the island.
It is the sort of public gathering that most countries where cases of the H1N1 flu have appeared would not even consider.
And despite the fact that the World Health Organization says closing borders will not help and that countries should simply try for containment of the new variant of swine flu, Cuba remains closed to flights from Mexico.
The island's military-run Civil Defense is on alert and special steps are being taken in airports, marinas and sea ports to prevent the flu from entering the country.
The midday news Thursday showed health personnel wearing face masks greeting all passengers arriving on international flights with a health card to be filled out with information on countries visited prior to Cuba and whether they have exhibited cold symptoms in the last 10 days.
Cuban airport workers are also interviewing flight crews upon arrival as to whether they observed passengers exhibiting possible flu symptoms on the plane. Should a passenger be singled out, medical workers would board the plane, according to the TV report, and immediately remove them to Havana's Tropical Medicine Institute.
And instead of the regular cleaning staff entering planes during their stopovers, specialized gloved and masked crews are boarding the planes to pick up trash, which is then immediately burned.
The ports are the only place where face masks are being regularly used.
Community health clinics and hospitals are on alert. Their staffs have been thoroughly briefed on swine flu, according to doctors speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health. The director of the Salvador Allende hospital in Havana says the facility is prepared to be the main treatment center should cases of swine flu appear among the Cuban population. That hospital was also the main hub for treatment during last year's outbreak of dengue fever, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Now the hospital has set aside a 50-bed intensive care unit to be used if the epidemic reaches the island.
One side effect of the flu threat has been a reported drop in doctor visits. On an average day, family doctors see numerous elderly patients who drop in to have their blood pressure taken and chat with their neighbors doing the same. But these free doctor visits have notably slowed in the last two days as senior citizens apparently are opting to stay home rather than run into others who might be coughing or sneezing.
Cuban television, radio and newspapers are headlining swine flu news and describing the symptoms to watch out for and urging people to frequently wash their hands and to cover their mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing.
Apart from its regular share of tourists, Havana this week has been hosting a meeting of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement Foreign Ministers, a meeting also attended by United Nations officials. That meeting winds up Thursday evening and many of its participants are expected to be guests at the parade marking International Workers' Day.
The massive event kicks off at 8 a.m. local time but many marchers will have been in position since 4 a.m. And there are always health workers along the parade route to treat those who faint from heat stroke or exhaustion but this year, reports the local media, they will also be on the watch for anyone exhibiting signs of flu and have been specially trained to deal with that contingency.