MEXICO CITY - MILLIONS of Mexicans on Friday holed up at home for a five-day national shutdown aimed at containing a flu epidemic that their government said was 'not so aggressive' as initially feared.
Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the confirmed toll now stood at 15 dead and 328 people infected, as lab tests came through from hundreds of backlogged cases.
That tally contrasted with figures given by Cordova early in the week, when he spoke of 159 'probable' deaths from the flu.
Based on Mexico's early evaluation and the spread of the H1N1 virus to several countries, the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a global pandemic was 'imminent.'
But Mr Cordova told a news conference on Friday: 'Fortunately the virus is not so aggressive - it's not a case of avian flu, which had a mortality rate of nearly 70 per cent.' He said the H1N1 flu was easily treated with anti-viral medicine 'if treatment is given from the first day.'
Nevertheless, a five-day shutdown of Mexico decreed by President Felipe Calderon was being mostly maintained, as it coincided with a traditional May Day long weekend.
Thousands of Mexicans ignored the instruction, however, heading to their usual beach getaways, where locals were petrified. 'They shouldn't be coming, they're bringing the virus with them,' said one resident in the coastal resort of Acapulco, Edgar Rubio Hernandez.
A group of around 200 demonstrators also briefly clashed with police in central Mexico City, ignoring a suspension of traditional May Day rallies by unions. There were no arrests or injuries.
Residents of the capital and elsewhere were starting to chafe at measures imposed early in the week to limit the spread of the H1N1 swine flu. The closure of bars, restaurants, clubs and cinemas had left the capital looking like a ghost town.
Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard on Friday acknowledged there appeared to be a stabilisation in the flu situation, but said 'the next 10 days will be critical' in deciding whether those restrictions should continue or not. -- AFP
