MEXICO CITY – Traffic is picking up again, cafes are reopening and cleanup crews are getting universities ready to resume classes. Mexico City has some of its customary bustle back, and the president promises life is returning to normal after a five-day shutdown to contain the spread of H1N1 Influenza A.
Mexico still called off Cinco de Mayo celebrations Tuesday, including the biggest one of all – a re-enactment of the May 5, 1862, victory over French troops in the central state of Puebla. And health experts warned that Mexico and the rest of the world needed to remain on guard against the virus.
Saying the outbreak is waning in Mexico, the epicentre of an illness that has sickened hundreds around the world, President Felipe Calderon announced it was nearly time to reopen businesses. Universities and high schools will open their doors Thursday, and younger schoolchildren are to report back to school May 11.
“The school schedule will resume with the guarantee that our educational institutions are in adequate hygienic condition,” Calderon said. He urged parents to join educators in a “collective” cleansing and inspection of schools nationwide.
“This is about going back to normalcy, but with everyone taking better care,” Calderon said.
Already more vehicles prowled the streets of the capital Monday than over the weekend, and fewer people wore surgical masks. Some cafes even reopened ahead of time.
Health Secretary Jose Cordova said infections were trending downward after Mexico’s 26 deaths, as well as a Mexican toddler who died in Texas. He said those infected appeared to pass the virus on to an average of 1.4 other people, near the normal flu rate of around 1.3.
Cordova said soccer stadiums and concert halls could reopen – but only if fans were kept two metres apart.
However, world health officials stressed that the global spread of the flu virus was still in its early stages and a pandemic could be declared in the days to come. Experts inside Mexico’s flu crisis center warned that the virus remained active throughout Mexico and could bounce back once millions return to work and school.
“It’s clear that it’s just about everywhere in Mexico,” Marc-Alain Widdowson, a medical epidemiologist from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press.
Scientists said the virus is spreading in the U.S. and that chances of severe cases could rise there as well, even as a New York City school reopened after the flu hit following a spring break trip by some students to Mexico.
“We are by no means out of the woods,” said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC.
As of Monday, Mexico had 802 confirmed cases, and U.S. cases grew to at least 380 in 36 states. Globally, the virus had infected more than 1,445 people in 20 countries, the World Health Organization said, including South Korea which reported its second confirmed case Tuesday. Experts said the known cases were almost certainly only a fraction of the real total.
Canadian health officials have reported 140 cases across the country, including one serious instance that sent an Alberta girl to hospital.
The latest figures from Mexico suggest the virus may be less lethal and infectious than originally feared. Only 38 per cent of suspected cases have turned out to be H1N1 flu, and no new deaths have been reported since April 29. But Cordova acknowledged about 100 early deaths in which the flu virus was suspected may never be confirmed because mucous or tissue samples were not collected.
WHO was studying whether to raise the pandemic alert to 6, its highest level, which would mean a global outbreak had begun. WHO uses the term pandemic to refer only to geographic spread and not to the severity of an illness. The two most recent pandemics – in 1957 and 1968 – were relatively mild.
“We do not know how long we will have until we move to Phase 6,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said. “We are not there yet. The criteria will be met when we see in another region outside North America, showing very clear evidence of community-level transmission.”
The Southern Hemisphere is particularly at risk. While Africa still hasn’t reported any infections and New Zealand is the only country south of the equator with confirmed cases, winter is only weeks away. Experts worry typical winter flus could combine with H1N1 flu, creating a new strain that is more contagious or dangerous.
Still, the United Nations health agency urged governments to avoid unproven actions to contain the disease, including group quarantines of travelers from Mexico and bans on pork imports.
“Let me make a strong plea to countries to refrain from introducing measures that are economically and socially disruptive, yet have no scientific justification and bring no clear public health benefit,” Chan said in a video message to the UN General Assembly in New York.
China, Argentina and Cuba are among the nations banning regular flights to and from Mexico, marooning passengers at both ends.
In a televised message to the country late Monday, Calderon had harsh words for countries he said are treating Mexicans unfairly. “Stop taking actions that only hurt Mexico and don’t contribute to avoid the transmission of the disease.”
Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz said Mexico would raise the issue at the World Trade Organization if other countries didn’t drop restrictive measures.
Chinese authorities quarantined Mexicans and other passengers who came in close contact with them, even those who didn’t show symptoms.
Among them was Olivier Dolige of France, one of 274 guests and employees kept inside a Hong Kong hotel where a Mexican tourist came down with the flu. Dolige celebrated his 43rd birthday under quarantine Tuesday, telling The Associated Press in a phone interview he invited other guests to share in champagne being sent by the French consulate.
“The day has started very well,” said Dolige, who was visiting Hong Kong for a trade fair. He said he had come to terms with the quarantine. “I feel good. I feel very good.”
