SHANGHAI/MEXICO CITY: Mexico began repatriating dozens of its citizens quarantined in China due to fears of a new flu virus and announced steps to revive its economy, hit hard by the epidemic.
An Aeromexico plane left Hong Kong for Mexico early today after picking up stranded Mexicans in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou in the south, and Hong Kong.
China at the weekend suspended flights to and from Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, leaving tourists at both ends stranded.
None of the 70 or so Mexicans quarantined in mainland China have shown symptoms of the H1N1 flu. They had been caught up in a drama about how far governments should go to stifle fears the virus could creep across their borders.
Xinhua reported that a Chinese chartered flight had collected 79 Chinese nationals in Mexico City before heading to Tijuana, where it was expected to pick up 20 more.
Starting today, Mexico would progressively return to normal activities by reopening its businesses, schools, museums and other venues closed for a week or more.
As Mexico prepared to put up business as usual notices, world health officials said the A(H1N1) virus had now affected 1,419 people, including 30 who have died.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of confirmed cases in the United States had jumped from 286 to 403 in the last 24 hours. Thirty-eight of the 50 states are now affected with two more states — Georgia and Maine — confirming cases.
The flu is not spreading in a sustained way outside of North America, despite relatively large numbers of confirmed infections in Spain and Britain, Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant director-general, told a news conference in Geneva.
He said WHO would wait to see evidence that the new virus is propagating within communities outside North America before looking to declare a full pandemic. “We do not feel that we are seeing that right now,” he said.
Britain announced nine new cases yesterday, including seven people who had not traveled to Mexico, taking its total number of infections to 27.
