This is a late breaking news that US will be relaxing treavel warning for Mexico.   This is happening about three weeks after the warning for all non-essential travel was put in place.

The warming will be downgraded to ‘travel precaution’ for high risk individuals.

According to the article “The warning, and a similar one issued by the State Department, came hard on the heels of the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting on April 24 that a new and fast-spreading strain of H1N1 or swine-origin influenza had been detected in Mexico.”

On Friday, Mexican health minster said that the flu virus is trending downwards.

Source: Travel Warning for Mexico

Is it now safe to go to Cancun, considering the outbreak of swine flu? On my blog, this is now a more common question; folks want to know if and when it is safe to go to Cancun.

There are currently two camps out there, the locals who believe it is very safe (including Mexican officials), and some on the outside, who would advise caution.

So intead of venturing an opinion, here are the facts as they stand. Each tourist need to make up his or her own decision about this.

LA Times today reports on Cancun Travel Safety quoting Mexico’s Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova who has stated that 5 top beach areas — Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Zihuatanejo and Cozumel — have not registered any confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus.

“Tourist destinations are safe in Mexico,” Cordova said. “People can come back with complete peace of mind. It is being monitored very intensively.”

According to LA Times, In Quintana Roo state, home to Cancun, federal health officials have tallied 11 cases. At least one was in Cancun, according to state authorities.  I believe the cases reported are from an earlier period compared with the statement about the safety of coming back.  Will provide an update in the next blog post.

In the meantime the CDC advisory against non-essential travel to Mexico remains in effect.

Interestingly three hotels have offered free Cancun holidays for three years to any tourist that catches swine flu while there.

Mexico woos tourists after swine flu  - He said Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Zihuatanejo and Los Cabos, popular tourists destinations on the Pacific coasts, have no swine flu cases. However, in Cancun and Acapulco, tourist destinations, seven and eight cases of swine flu …

Free holidays offered to tourists who catch swine flu in Mexico … - Officials have said that 25 hotels in and around Cancun have been forced to close due to the swine flu crisis. And the FCO is still advising against all but essential travel to Mexico. It emerged today that flight operators are …

Mexico Will Pay For Your Vacation If You Have Swine Flu  - In an effort to drum up tourism, hotels in Cancún and Riviera Maya are offering complimentary vacation packages to people who can prove they have been afflicted by swine / pig / hybrid / H1N1 flu. Or whoever wins a wet t-shirt contest. …

Club Med has announced its travel policy for Mexico.

Here is excerpts from the page above, without interpretation:

“many countries to postpone non-essential travel to Mexico, Club Med has taken the decision to postpone all travel to its villages in Mexico until May 30, 2009.

We have been asked by our blog commentors to blog swine flu in other areas of Mexico, including Mazatlan.  So we will provide you information on a variety of Mexican locations.  Please sign up to our newsletter to get the latest information.

There are currently no reports of Mazatlan Swine Flu. 

There are currently no reported cases of Cabo San Lucas swine flu infections. This comes in the backdrop of multiple states in Mexico reporting swine flu outbreak.

Baja peninsula (home to Cabo San Lucas) appears to only have breakouts in Mexicali, a non-coastal city about 120 miles inland, near the California border and located between Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortes.

We will keep you up to date with the latest in Cabo San Lucas swine flu information. Please sign up to the newsletter below to get regular updates.

Swine Flu Los Cabos  - Any place in Mexico with domestic Mexican and international travelers mixing is of concern in a potential swine flu pandemic. That is not to say there are confirmed swine flu cases in Cabo. (There aren’t as of 4-27-09. …

Enough with the Swine Flu Already…I’m going to Cabo! - In the midst of a swine flu media frenzy, I booked a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Why, might you ask? Because sometimes I just don’t buy what the media is selling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a PR person and can appreciate the value of …

The Facts about “Swine Flu” in Los Cabos, Mexico  CABO … - No reported cases of Swine Flu in Los Cabos Mexico, making Los Cabos safer than California, Texas, Kansas, New York and beyond…

Swine flu incidents on Google Maps … - According to official information of the State Government of Baja California Sur., there has not been any reported cases of swine flu (Influenza) from Los Cabos to Guerrero Negro, state limit of Baja California Sur. …

Evening Buzz: Swine Flu or Not … - Also, have you heard of any cases in Cabo or in the south Baja peninsula? Roland, April 30th, 2009 10:11 pm ET. call it pig disease. Kevin, April 30th, 2009 10:11 pm ET. It is just the flu. The press is making it a huge deal. …

Although swine flu is wide-spread in Mexico (18 states at least), there are currently no confirmed cases of swine flu in Puerto Vallarta.

We are monitoring English and Spanish media and if we hear about any swine flu Puerto Vallarta cases, we will bring it to you.

In the meatime, this is a pretty good video on the situation:

Puerto Vallarta Swine Flu Updates - Updated May 2, 8 am NOTICE: The city of Puerto Vallarta has announced the closure of all night clubs and bars in the Centro and Old Town areas from April 26 until May 4-6 as a precaution against the s.

Puerto Vallarta Swine Flu Story #1 - Reporting on Swine Flu Direct from Mexico by Margo Jodyne Dills, PVNN April 27, 2009 - On CNN you can find videos telling you how to avoid swine flu. Amateur productions, available for all to view, gi.

Trip report Puerto Vallarta - Was in complete oblivion to the swine flu while there, just got back from an awesome trip to PVR. If you haven’t gone you should. I only spent one afternoon actually in PVR the rest of the time was spent at an all-inclusive resort north …

What are the most swine flu affected areas in Mexico?  Well, the first infection was reported in Peroto, Veracruz, Mexico, on April 2nd, but it was misdiagnosed.  The first death occured on Oaxaca on on April 13th.

The areas most affected areas in Mexico by swine flu virus include the following, courtesy of wikipedia:

Some good references:

Areas Hit By Swine Flu In Mexico and Swine Flu Areas In United States - The Swine Flu H1N1 which started in Mexico has now spread to many areas and some of the areas affected by swine flu in Mexico and some of the areas affected by swine flu in US include states in US such as California, New York, Ohio, …

As of this date, no confirmed cases of Isla Mujeres Swine Flu are reported.  Isla Mujeres is an island off of the Coast from Cancun that can be reached by ferries. It is a favorite day trip destination from Cancun, although it does have great accomodations for extended stays as well.

 There was an earlier possible Isla Mujeres swine flu case reported, but it is not confirmed.

On a lighter note, here is a nice Isla Mujeres video:

href=’http://www.pvscene.com/?p=4081′>PUERTO VALLARTA SCENE» Puerto Vallarta Swine Flu Updates - Updated May 2, 8 am NOTICE: The city of Puerto Vallarta has announced the closure of all night clubs and bars in the Centro and Old Town areas from April 26 until May 4-6 as a precaution against the s.

PUERTO VALLARTA SCENE» Puerto Vallarta Swine Flu Story #1 - Reporting on Swine Flu Direct from Mexico by Margo Jodyne Dills, PVNN April 27, 2009 - On CNN you can find videos telling you how to avoid swine flu. Amateur productions, available for all to view, gi.

Trip report Puerto Vallarta - CareCure Forums - Was in complete oblivion to the swine flu while there, just got back from an awesome trip to PVR. If you haven’t gone you should. I only spent one afternoon actually in PVR the rest of the time was spent at an all-inclusive resort north …

A number of cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean Cruises and Princess Cruises are rerouting cruises from Mexican ports to other ports. The new plan replaces stops in Mazatlan, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta with U.S. ports such as San Diego, Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

This is the latest case of how H1N1 virus (aka swine flu virus) is pummeling tourist in Mexico.

“Cancun, one of the Mexican Riviera’s top beach destinations, has lost an estimated $2.4 million in the last week as hotel occupancy dropped 40% below usual levels for this time of year, said Rodrigo de la Pena, president of the Cancun Hotel Assn.”

Cancun restaurants are offering 2-for-1 dinners and bars are offering 2-for-1 drinks.

The change of itinerary will greatly hurt Cozumel, one of the top cruise line stops (one of the nicest places).

Princess Cruises says it will avoid Mexican ports through May 24. Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line, is avoiding Mexico through May 11, while Royal Caribbean is steering clear through June 14.

Cruise lines avoiding Mexican ports

Online paper Noticaribe (Spanish) has a report about QR swine flu. This report indicates that there are currently 11 people admitted for suspected influenza, including 4 tourists (tourists from Brazil, Scotland, US, and Austalia), in the northern part of Quintana Roo (the state in which Cancun and Yucatan Penninsula are located).

Test results are expected to be announced in the next few days.

Officials state that there is screening procudure at the aiport looking for people with over 39 degrees temprature.  Anyone will elevated temprature will be referred to hospitals for additional screening and analysis.  They further request that passengers answer questionaires truthfully since sometimes it is impossible to detect cases otherwise, and that can endanger other passengers.

This news come with the backdrop of Mexico not announcing new deaths from swine flu, and the overall picture looking more optimistic.  At the same time, US officials warn that this kind of virus can appear to ebb, and then come back strong.  So it is too early to put the guards down.

In the meantime, the first case of Costa Rica Swine Flu was reported.