BRADENTON — Athletics will go on in Manatee County, despite the first two confirmed cases of swine flu in Florida — one in Broward County and another in Lee County.
“The situation for us does not change,” Manatee County school board spokesperson Mike Barber said. “We are keeping an eye on the situation here.”
The school board is working closely with the Manatee County Health Department to monitor the virus.
“It’s not in our backyard yet,” Barber said. “It’s in the state, and we are preparing for the eventuality that it might show up here, but right now, there are no plans to stop any athletic activities or close any schools.”
Florida officials earlier referred eight suspected cases of swine flu to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for more testing from Alachua, Orange, Lee, Broward, Palm Beach and Pinellas counties.
The Florida High School Athletics Association has posted an advisory on its Web site, FHSAA.com, that athletics will continue for the time being because no schools have been closed at this time.
— Ryan T. Boyd, Herald Staff
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
Disclaimer: Story comments are intended to provide a place for constructive dialog about issues and events in our community. Your input is encouraged and can make a positive difference. To achieve this, no obscenity, personal attacks, or racial slurs are tolerated. Users brought to our attention for violating our terms of use will be blocked from commenting permanently and without notice. Please help keep the comments on topic by flagging objectionable material and remember that children and young adults may be reading your comments. With freedom of speech comes the responsibility to be respectful of others.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search