People dying from swine flu in Minsk?

Information about death of sme people in hospital #5 has appeared on the Internet, but the Health Committee is unsure whether it was the swine flu.

On October 28, Minsk blogger sammy_belarus wrote all doctors and nurses in the fifth clinical hospital wear face masks. “We have just been informed that two persons, 30 and 37 years old, died from the H1N1 influenza in the intensive care unit. Two persons are fighting for a chance to live. Symptoms are fever and fluid lungs...” the girl wrote in her blog.

The website www.charter97.org phoned hospital #5 of Minsk, but the personnel refused to give any information and just advised to refer other persons. Finally, the deputy chief doctor of medical unit said she couldn’t discuss the theme and told we could get any information from the Health Committee of the Minsk city executive committee.

Asked to comment on the situation about the death in hospital #5, Alena Rudkova, the head of the specialized medical aid of the Health Committee, shouted: “You are the tenth to call us! Do not spread panic! We don’t know if it was the swine flu virus!” To a question what caused the death, the doctor said: “They died from pneumonia” and hang up.

We remind that death from the swine flu have not been recorded in Belarus officially so far. The authorities denied such information every time it appeared.