ALERT: Phase 6 Imminent - New York stops testing as cases swamp government; WHO about to declare PHASE 6 Pandemic

BLOOMBERG.COM [2 May] Laboratory tests verified that at least 658 people in North America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand had the illness, with 16 deaths in Mexico, according to WHO’s Web site. Canada officials reported 17 new cases confirmed today in Nova Scotia, bringing the total there to 31.

New York officials said they suspect more than 1,000 cases, so many that the government has stopped testing all but the sickest there.

SHOOT: I support the fact that there be hypervigilance around H1N1. Human transmission is occuring in multiple countries, and Mexico is just one country backtracking on its death toll figures. Transmission is widespread and many cases are going to go completely undetected, masked by seasonal flu in especially southern hemisphere countries. The risk for compacency right now is high, which to some extent justifies a Phase 6.

clipped from www.bloomberg.com May 2 (Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization probably will go to phase 6, the highest step on its pandemic alert scale, even as some reports say many cases of swine flu show symptoms no more severe than seasonal flu, health officials said. Still, swine flu has reached 16 countries, most recently Costa Rica, and there’s evidence the new virus is spreading in five nations among people unconnected to Mexico where cases were first reported. The health minister in Mexico said today the country has no new deaths attributed to the H1N1 virus commonly known as swine flu. “At this stage we have to expect that phase 6 will be reached; we have to hope that it won’t be reached,” Ryan said. “I would still propose that a pandemic is imminent.”