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Millions return to school in Mexico
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-08 10:05

In a tentative first step toward normalcy, Mexicans returned to work Wednesday after a five-day shutdown which the government said reduced the spread of the virus.

Millions return to school in Mexico
A woman cleans desks as part of a school's disinfection programme in Monterrey, northern Mexico May 7, 2009. [Agencies]

The capital's health secretary announced later that all places of business - including sports arenas, dance halls, movie theaters and restaurants - will be allowed to operate Thursday.

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But establishments must follow government-ordered hygiene rules including screening for any sick people and making surgical masks mandatory for employees and customers alike.

Deaths have slowed as the country mobilized an aggressive public health response to the epidemic that has sickened thousands in 24 countries. Sweden and Poland were the latest countries to confirm swine flu cases, both in women who had recently visited the U.S.

The fear of contagion was so great that even impoverished Haiti refused to accept a Mexican navy ship carrying 77 tons of rice, fertilizer and emergency food kits, said Mexico's ambassador, Zadalinda Gonzalez y Reynero.

In San Diego, Calif., the U.S. Navy canceled the deployment of the USS Dubuque, an amphibious transport ship, after a crew member was confirmed to have swine flu. About 50 others were suspected cases, and all crew members were being treated with antiviral drugs.

In Washington, CDC officials said they identified genetic characteristics of the virus and were in position to produce a vaccine if one is needed. Dr. Dennis Carroll, a special adviser on pandemics with the U.S. Agency for International Development, said investments to stave off an avian flu epidemic aided the quick swine flu response.

Canada, meanwhile, said researchers at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, genetically sequenced three samples of the virus from Mexico and Canada, a breakthrough they hope will answer questions about how it spreads and mutates.