MEXICO: Authorities tell citizens not to travel to China and criticises countries for suspending flights

Record ID: 1534391

  • Title: MEXICO: Authorities tell citizens not to travel to China and criticises countries for suspending flights
  • Date: 3rd May 2009
  • Summary: NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: "Do Not Come" MORE OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES/ ONE READING: "The Rejection of Mexico Grows Around The World."
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2009 02:35
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVABCZ3VYHHIB0B8CO8URA7B131Q
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Mexico's government recommended on Saturday (May 2) that its citizens stay away from China after Chinese authorities imposed a quarantine on a Hong Kong hotel where a Mexican guest fell ill with the new flu virus.
    Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa criticized China for taking "unjustified" action against Mexicans in reaction to the H1N1 swine flu epidemic in Mexico.

    "We are especially worried about China, where Mexican citizens showing no signs at all of being ill, have been isolated, under unacceptable conditions," Espinosa told a news conference.

    "The Foreign Ministry recommends avoiding traveling to China until these measures are corrected," she added.
    The quarantining of the Hong Kong hotel occurred on Friday (May 1) and the virus has spread to at least 17 countries around the world.
    Espinosa also criticized four Latin American countries -- Argentina, Peru and Ecuador and Cuba -- for suspending flights from Mexico over the flu alert.

    "In the case of Latin American countries, we are surprised by the adoption of unjustified measures, which are incongruous with to the ties that our countries have traditionally maintained, such as has happened with Argentina, Peru and Ecuador, countries which have suspended flights from Mexico, violating the explicit recommendations of the WHO," she added.
    China suspended flights to Mexico after Hong Kong authorities confirmed a Mexican man was infected with the flu strain. Hong Kong was hit hard by the 2003 SARS outbreak.
    The suspension of flights by Argentina and Peru has led to tourists and students from those countries being stranded in Mexico as the flu outbreak went into full swing.
    A group of Argentine tourists has been stranded at a hotel in Mexico since Argentina suspended flights to Mexico on Tuesday (April 28) in a bid to stop the deadly virus from spreading.

    "We are desperate because Argentina is giving too much importance to the virus compared to what is really going on in Mexico. There are a lot health measures in place (in Mexico) and they think we could be infected," said Cristina Germanoff, an Argentine tourist.
    The World Health Organization has identified Mexico as the epicenter of the epidemic of the new flu strain it fears could threaten a global pandemic.
    Mexican authorities say they hope the outbreak could be stabilizing and have cut back their suspected death toll to up to 101 from 176.
    Mexican media is reporting a backlash against Mexican nationals abroad as they are accused of being the source of the virus that has now spread to 20 countries.

    "We deeply regret that Mexico or Mexicans might be stigmatised or blamed for having started the infection. We all know that the different types of influenza re-occur annually. It's a universal theme and this outbreak of Influenza A is present in 20 countries and we are far from knowing the origin of this new outbreak," said Spain's ambassador in Mexico, at ceremony where Spain offered one million euros in aid to help Mexico cope with the outbreak.
    Scientists are still trying to assess how the new virus behaves and how it compares to regular seasonal flu strains, which kill between 250,000 and 500,000 globally every year.
    Although the outbreak remains tiny compared to other epidemics such as malaria, hepatitis and meningitis, the WHO hiked its pandemic alert level from three to five last week due to its rapid spread and the possibility it could hit hard in poor and disease-prone communities, including people with HIV.
    Public hospitals in Mexico have noted a steady drop in patients turning up with fevers, suggesting the infection rate may be declining as people don face masks and use hand gel.
    In Mexico City, big parks, museums and zoos were shut and in the sprawling metropolis of 20 million people many were heeding a government call to stay home for a prolonged five day-holiday to try to stem new infections.
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