MEXICO CITY - THE H1N1 flu virus spread to more countries on Tuesday, but at the center of the epidemic, Mexican health officials said the worst is over despite a rising death count.
Mexico's toll rose to 58 deaths and 2,282 confirmed cases of swine flu - a rise of two deaths and 223 more cases since Monday - but Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said this reflects a testing backlog: The last confirmed case was May 8.
The more cases Mexico confirms, the less deadly the virus appears, Cordova said.
And 92 per cent of people sickened or killed in Mexico showed symptoms 'before we knew that we were fighting against a new germ,' and knew how to properly treat them, he added.
Mr Cordova said Mexico's shutdown of schools - lifted Monday in most of the 31 states - had averted an avalanche of cases. 'It would have been difficult for us to have controlled this epidemic,' said Mr Cordova.
Mexico's overburdened health system has been strained by the epidemic. Dozens of government doctors and nurses marched and blocked streets in the Gulf coast city of Jalapa to demand higher pay and better working conditions.
Mexico also is trying to revive its economy after the epidemic pummeled tourism, the country's third-largest source of legal foreign income.
Mr Cordova said there have been no swine flu cases in five top Mexican vacation spots, including Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel, Mazatlan and Zihuatanejo.
'The tourist destinations are safe in Mexico,' he said.
'People can return to them with peace of mind.' -- AP
