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Sun worshippers returning from Mexico yesterday evening at the Edmonton International Airport described the resorts they were staying at as ghost towns in the wake of the country's swine flu outbreak.
"Usually by 9 a.m., the beach chairs would be full. But there was no one by the pool," said a tanned Melissa Ponich, 19, who just returned from Playa del Carmen with her friend Alyssa Biasini, 20.
Throngs of locals returning home from the disease-stricken country told tales of resort evacuations, mandatory hand-sanitizing and masks being handed out as tourists quickly discovered the news of the influenza outbreak.
Hugs and kisses abounded after some waiting for their loved ones expressed concern over the outbreak.
Some passengers oinked and joked with family and friends as they stepped through the gates.
Ponich said people were not allowed into restaurants and cafes without having their hands sanitized with solution first.
More and more hotel staffers were seen donning masks. And towards the end of their week-long trip, resorts were being evacuated en masse.
"It really was like a ghost town," Biasini said.
Kristen Stewart, 22, and her friend Brad Benwood, 29, their masks firmly covering their mouths, agreed, adding that clubs in Cancun where they were staying were also shutting down in wake of the outbreak.
The pair said they weren't too concerned about contracting the illness while on vacation because they stayed within the resorts and also wore masks at the airport as a precaution.
Plus the airport was checking each passengers' temperature and taking stringent measures to make sure those boarding the plane were healthy, they said.
"My mom was freaking out though, calling me, Facebooking and text-messaging me like five times a day," Stewart laughed.
"But we weren't too concerned."
However, both agreed that they would not head to Mexico now with all the information they now know about the flu.
Blaise and Deanna Mattie, who were greeted by their four sons waving neon "welcome home" signs, said they were slightly worried about the flu, adding the resort didn't really keep them abreast of the outbreak situation.
But they indicated they were happy to be back home with their family, hugging and kissing their children as they stepped through the gates.
"I was a kind of worried," said their son Marc, 10, adding: "I didn't want them to get the swine flu."
Donna Call, spokesman with Edmonton International Airport, confirmed all flights coming in from Mexico yesterday were regularly scheduled flights.
WestJet had indicated they would start sending "rescue flights" to Mexico over the weekend.
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