MEXICO: International travelers are greeted with masks and warnings at Mexico City's airport

Record ID: 304161

  • Title: MEXICO: International travelers are greeted with masks and warnings at Mexico City's airport
  • Date: 27th April 2009
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICO CITY RESIDENT ARRIVING AT AIRPORT JOSE LOPEZ SAYING: "And now we come back to this surprise of the flu epidemic. As protective measures we had him (his son) put on a surgical mask and we try to stay away from public places to avoid possible infection."
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Health,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVA4U05VUVT8U3LDOGJ1U0LDZ0B9
  • Story Text: International visitors and returning Mexicans are greeted upon their arrival in Mexico with a mask and instructions to keep away from others in the country's on-going effort to contain the swine flu.
    Preventative measures are being applied at the Mexico's international airport Sunday (April 26) as international travelers stream through customs.
    Arriving passengers are given surgical masks to put over their nose and mouth prior to leaving the building.

    "As protective measures, we had him (his son) put on a surgical mask and we try to stay away from public places to avoid possible infection," said Jose Lopez who arrived with his family in tow.
    Navy personnel throughout the airport distributed masks to incoming travelers in the hopes of containing the flu virus, clamping down on the usual weekend activities through the city.

    "It's being done in public places and the airport is a public place where two hundred and fifty thousand people gather each day," said airport spokesperson Victor Mejia.
    Fears of a global swine flu pandemic are growing with new infections cropping up in the United States and Canada. Millions of Mexicans stayed indoors to avoid the virus that has killed up to 81 people across the country.
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