Mexico emerges from isolation from swine flu over swine fluy

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico emerged from its swine flu isolation Tuesday as thousands of newspaper vendors, salesmen hawking trinkets and even panhandlers dropped their protective masks and joined the familiar din of traffic horns and blaring music on the streets of the capital.

There were still signs, however, of the virus that set off world health alarms. A Texas woman who lived near a popular border crossing was confirmed as the 28th person — only the second outside Mexico and the first U.S. resident — to die after contracting the virus.

Across Mexico, people were eagerly anticipating this week’s reopening of businesses, restaurants, schools and parks, after a claustrophobic five-day furlough.

“We have a lot of confidence nothing is going to happen,” said Irineo Moreno Gonzales, 54, a security guard who Tuesday limited takeout customers to four at a time at a usually crowded downtown Starbucks. “Mexicans have the same spirit we’ve always had. We’re ready to move forward.”

The Texas woman, the second confirmed person to die with swine flu in the U.S., lived not far from the Mexico border and had chronic medical conditions, as did the Mexico City toddler who died of swine flu last week during a visit to Houston, Texas, health officials said.

The 33-year-old woman was pregnant and delivered a healthy baby while hospitalized, said Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist. She was a teacher in the Mercedes Independent School District, which announced it would close its schools until May 11.

Mexico’s government imposed the shutdown to curb the flu’s spread, especially in this metropolis of 20 million where the outbreak sickened the most people. Capital residents overwhelmingly complied, and officials cautiously hailed the drastic experiment as a success.

But by Tuesday, pedestrians — many wearing protective masks, many not — were back to dodging the familiar green-and-white VW taxis cruising for fares and noisy heavy trucks bearing bottled water.

Some officials worried about a sudden rush toward normalcy, though no Mexican swine flu deaths have been confirmed since April 29.

“The scientists are saying that we really need to evaluate more,” said Dr. Ethel Palacios, the deputy director of the swine flu monitoring effort here. “In terms of how the virus is going to behave, we are keeping every possibility in mind. ... We can’t make a prediction of what’s going to happen.”

Palacios acknowledged the enormous responsibilities that come with balancing the public’s health and economic welfare.

“One of most the important things is that you need to know that these measures do have an impact not only on health but also on other aspect of life and society,” Palacios said.