Restaurant owners in Mexico City are preparing to reopen as restrictions are set to be lifted in the capital, following the outbreak of A/H1N1 flu in the country. But Latin American authorities are bracing for fresh outbreaks of the flu.
This as the approaching winter in the southern hemisphere brings with it an elevated risk of the virus spreading and mutating.
Officials in the Mexican capital, Mexico City, said they would allow cafes, museums and libraries to reopen this week, as they cautiously declared that the epidemic may be waning.
Mexico's health secretary said most businesses would reopen Wednesday nationwide, ending a five-day closure of nonessential businesses to stop the spread of the virus.
Mexico City mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, said universities would reopen Thursday and other schools would resume classes next week.
Schools have been closed nationwide since April 27.
But Mexican officials warned people that the threat posed by the virus was far from over.
Colombia has found the first confirmed flu case in South America. The 42-year-old man who lives near the capital of Bogota was recently in Mexico for a sales seminar.
A spokesperson for the Colombian government said that of 136 suspected cases, four had been hospitalized.
Meanwhile, in Central America, two cases were confirmed in El Salvador. Results from another two suspected cases have been sent to laboratories in the US.
Health officials said that there was a high probability that the two suspected cases, a young man and his girlfriend, would test positive for the A/H1N1 virus.
(CCTV May 5, 2009)
