Mexico City's Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday that he support the measure of the federal government on suspending activities from May 1 to May 5 amid swine flu fear in the country.
In a daily press conference on the swine influenza A H1N1, Ebrard said that this measure will not be applied for the workers of the Public Security Secretariat of the Health Secretariat of the city.
Ebrard said that during the day his cabinet will held a meeting to evaluate which and how many sectors will join the obliged suspension of activities decreed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Edrard said that some of the many public works carried in the city could join the activity suspension, but he said he will make the announcement later.
At the same press conference, Mexico City's Secretary of Health Armando Ahued said that 194 people with symptoms of breathing diseases have been assisted, among whom 18 were hospitalized.
Ahued said that 16 people recovered and were sent back home, while 115 are under observation at hospitals.
Ebrard said that due to the measures taken for the H1N1 epidemic there is tendency of stabilization on the number of infection, adding that this tendency could continue in the following days.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that the total cases of H1N1 infection in the world are 257, among whom US. has reported 109, Mexico 97, Canada 19, Spain 13, Britain 8, Germany 3, New Zealand 3, Israel 2, Austria 1, Netherlands 1 and Switzerland 1.
According to the WHO, among those infection cases seven people died in Mexico and one in the United States.
The WHO also recommended that the disease be called "human flu" or "influenza A H1N1" instead of swine flu.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2009)
