Tweet
hat tip friend of FT -
Mexico Seeks to Contain Swine Flu, Economic Impact (Update3)
2009-04-26 21:48:53.263 GMT
(Adds finance minister comment in the second paragraph;
Calderon comments in the 20th, 25th paragraphs.)
By Thomas Black and Jens Erik Gould
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico requested the closure of
bars, movie theaters and churches in the capital to fight an
outbreak of deadly swine flu, while stopping short of ordering
workplaces shut on concern about the economic impact.
The effort to fight the virus has a ?high potential for
disruption,? Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said today while
speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund?s
spring meetings. It?s too early to gauge the economic impact, he
said.
The epidemic, which has claimed as many as 81 lives,
threatens to deepen the country?s economic decline after U.S.
demand for Mexican exports including cars and home appliances
plummeted. The Mexican economy shrank 1.6 percent in the fourth
quarter and probably contracted another 4.2 percent in the first
three months of this year, according to a central bank survey of
32 economists published April 1.
President Felipe Calderon has been given emergency powers
to order quarantines and suspend public events. So far, the
government has closed schools in Mexico City and the states of
Mexico and San Luis Potosi until May 6, and has canceled
government activities that draw crowds.
?By agreement of the members of the economic cabinet and
submitted for consideration by the president, economic
activities won?t be suspended because of the epidemic,? Economy
Minister Gerardo Ruiz said in a news conference last night. The
government opted instead for actions that ?mitigate the impact
on the economy and on the functioning of society in general.?
Health Minister Jose Cordoba yesterday requested, but
didn?t order, the closure of bars, movie theaters and churches.
Cases in U.S.
At least 20 deaths are confirmed in Mexico, Cordova said
yesterday at a Mexico City news conference. The strain is a
variant of the H1N1 swine influenza that has infected 11 people
in Kansas, California and Texas and may have sickened at least
eight students in New York.
Of 1,324 patients who were hospitalized with the flu-like
symptoms, 929 have been treated and released, Calderon said
today following a meeting of the General Health Council. The
remaining patients are still under observation, he said.
In the U.S., 20 people have confirmed cases of swine flu
linked to the Mexican virus, and the acting head of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention said officials expect more
severe infections to begin showing up.
Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said it?s too
early to gauge the effect of the outbreak on Latin America?s
second-largest economy.
Economic Impact
?It?s hard to say at this stage how deep and how wide and
how long this episode will be,? Carstens told reporters in
Washington yesterday, where he was attending a meeting of the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund. ?If we are
successful the impact should be minor.?
Isidro Reyes, who was selling cheeses and fruits from the
back of his pickup truck in Mexico City?s Roma neighborhood,
said business had fallen 50 percent since April 24, when the
government first shut schools.
Empty Streets
?People are scared,? said Reyes, 29. ?We?re alone on the
streets.?
Raul Sanchez, a 49-year-old taxi driver in Mexico City,
said business has dropped by half since April 24.
?People don?t even want to leave their houses,? he said.
?It was bad enough with the economic situation, and now it?s
even worse.?
The World Bank has agreed to loan Mexico $205 million to
flight swine flu, Carstens said. Of that amount, $25 million
will be disbursed immediately for the government to buy
medicines and equipment to detect and fight the virus.
The Finance Ministry said last night the government has 6
billion pesos ($450 million) from an emergency fund to fight the
virus and will help state governments cover the costs by
advancing budget transfer payments.
No foreign government has banned travel to Mexico, Economy
Minister Ruiz said yesterday. Foreign tourism, which amounted to
$13.3 billion in 2008, is Mexico?s third-largest source of
foreign currency behind oil exports and remittances from
Mexicans who live abroad.
No Hesitation
The emergency decree, published in the state gazette, gives
the president authority to take wider action. Still, Calderon
urged Mexicans to remain calm.
?It?s very important to act rapidly and to act seriously,
but it?s also important to maintain calm and collaborate with
authorities and inform about cases that present themselves,?
Calderon said following today?s health council meeting,
according to a transcript from his office.
The first case was seen in Mexico on April 13. The outbreak
coincided with U.S. President Barack Obama?s trip to Mexico City
on April 16. Obama was received at Mexico?s anthropology museum
in Mexico City by Felipe Solis, a distinguished archeologist who
passed away days later from symptoms similar to flu, Reforma
newspaper reported. Solis died of pneumonia, Cordoba said
yesterday, and studies so far show his illness wasn?t related to
the flu.
Obama?s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said today in
Washington that the president was never in danger of contracting
the disease.
Requested Collaboration
The Mexican government is distributing breathing masks to
curtail the disease?s spread. Soldiers in army trucks handed out
face masks today in Mexico City?s downtown square, known as the
Zocalo.
There is no vaccine against the new strain of swine flu,
health authorities said. Early treatment can help beat back the
disease, said Calderon, who has declined to shake hands in
public to set an example of measures people should take.
?This is very important: The disease is curable and we
have the medicine for it,? Calderon said today.
The demand for masks made them scarce in Mexico City.
Pharmacies in the Roma neighborhood had makeshift signs on the
walls alerting customers that face masks had run out. The
economy ministry will be watching for price abuses related to
medicine and articles needed to combat the flu, Ruiz said.
The Health Ministry in a statement today warned companies,
pharmacies and other sellers of medicine to not advertise
products that ?supposedly cure swine flu and only confuse
people.?
Museums, theaters and other venues in the Mexico City area,
where large crowds gather, have shut down voluntarily and
concerts and other events have been canceled to help contain the
disease. Two professional soccer games will be played today in
different Mexico City stadiums without any fans.
?We request the collaboration to reduce the sources of
contact by suspending events in closed or open spaces of any
type,? Cordoba said.
Murals Closed
Soldiers wearing face masks stood at the entrance of the
national palace, telling tourists that the site of famous Diego
Rivera murals was closed until further notice.
Cristiana Correa, 29-year-old tourist from Brazil, wandered
the vast Zocalo with a guide book and map in hand trying to find
a tourist attraction that was open. Correa said she?s concerned
she won?t be able to see much during her two-day stay in the
city.
?I don?t have anything to do,? she said. ?Today, I
planned to see the National Palace and the Templo Mayor.
Yesterday, I tried to go to the Frida Kahlo museum.?
Emergency Decree
The emergency decree lets Calderon regulate transportation,
send inspectors into any home or building, order quarantines and
assign any task to all federal, state and local authorities as
well as health professionals to combat the disease.
?The health of Mexicans is a cause that we?re defending
with unity and responsibility,? Calderon said. ?I know that
although it?s a grave problem, a serious problem, we?re going to
overcome it.?
Mexico City?s international airport, which handles about
70,000 passengers each day, was operating normally today,
according to its press office. Passengers are given a
questionnaire asking if they have flu symptoms and recommending
they cancel their trip and see a doctor if they do.
Mexico Seeks to Contain Swine Flu, Economic Impact (Update3)
2009-04-26 21:48:53.263 GMT
(Adds finance minister comment in the second paragraph;
Calderon comments in the 20th, 25th paragraphs.)
By Thomas Black and Jens Erik Gould
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico requested the closure of
bars, movie theaters and churches in the capital to fight an
outbreak of deadly swine flu, while stopping short of ordering
workplaces shut on concern about the economic impact.
The effort to fight the virus has a ?high potential for
disruption,? Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said today while
speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund?s
spring meetings. It?s too early to gauge the economic impact, he
said.
The epidemic, which has claimed as many as 81 lives,
threatens to deepen the country?s economic decline after U.S.
demand for Mexican exports including cars and home appliances
plummeted. The Mexican economy shrank 1.6 percent in the fourth
quarter and probably contracted another 4.2 percent in the first
three months of this year, according to a central bank survey of
32 economists published April 1.
President Felipe Calderon has been given emergency powers
to order quarantines and suspend public events. So far, the
government has closed schools in Mexico City and the states of
Mexico and San Luis Potosi until May 6, and has canceled
government activities that draw crowds.
?By agreement of the members of the economic cabinet and
submitted for consideration by the president, economic
activities won?t be suspended because of the epidemic,? Economy
Minister Gerardo Ruiz said in a news conference last night. The
government opted instead for actions that ?mitigate the impact
on the economy and on the functioning of society in general.?
Health Minister Jose Cordoba yesterday requested, but
didn?t order, the closure of bars, movie theaters and churches.
Cases in U.S.
At least 20 deaths are confirmed in Mexico, Cordova said
yesterday at a Mexico City news conference. The strain is a
variant of the H1N1 swine influenza that has infected 11 people
in Kansas, California and Texas and may have sickened at least
eight students in New York.
Of 1,324 patients who were hospitalized with the flu-like
symptoms, 929 have been treated and released, Calderon said
today following a meeting of the General Health Council. The
remaining patients are still under observation, he said.
In the U.S., 20 people have confirmed cases of swine flu
linked to the Mexican virus, and the acting head of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention said officials expect more
severe infections to begin showing up.
Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said it?s too
early to gauge the effect of the outbreak on Latin America?s
second-largest economy.
Economic Impact
?It?s hard to say at this stage how deep and how wide and
how long this episode will be,? Carstens told reporters in
Washington yesterday, where he was attending a meeting of the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund. ?If we are
successful the impact should be minor.?
Isidro Reyes, who was selling cheeses and fruits from the
back of his pickup truck in Mexico City?s Roma neighborhood,
said business had fallen 50 percent since April 24, when the
government first shut schools.
Empty Streets
?People are scared,? said Reyes, 29. ?We?re alone on the
streets.?
Raul Sanchez, a 49-year-old taxi driver in Mexico City,
said business has dropped by half since April 24.
?People don?t even want to leave their houses,? he said.
?It was bad enough with the economic situation, and now it?s
even worse.?
The World Bank has agreed to loan Mexico $205 million to
flight swine flu, Carstens said. Of that amount, $25 million
will be disbursed immediately for the government to buy
medicines and equipment to detect and fight the virus.
The Finance Ministry said last night the government has 6
billion pesos ($450 million) from an emergency fund to fight the
virus and will help state governments cover the costs by
advancing budget transfer payments.
No foreign government has banned travel to Mexico, Economy
Minister Ruiz said yesterday. Foreign tourism, which amounted to
$13.3 billion in 2008, is Mexico?s third-largest source of
foreign currency behind oil exports and remittances from
Mexicans who live abroad.
No Hesitation
The emergency decree, published in the state gazette, gives
the president authority to take wider action. Still, Calderon
urged Mexicans to remain calm.
?It?s very important to act rapidly and to act seriously,
but it?s also important to maintain calm and collaborate with
authorities and inform about cases that present themselves,?
Calderon said following today?s health council meeting,
according to a transcript from his office.
The first case was seen in Mexico on April 13. The outbreak
coincided with U.S. President Barack Obama?s trip to Mexico City
on April 16. Obama was received at Mexico?s anthropology museum
in Mexico City by Felipe Solis, a distinguished archeologist who
passed away days later from symptoms similar to flu, Reforma
newspaper reported. Solis died of pneumonia, Cordoba said
yesterday, and studies so far show his illness wasn?t related to
the flu.
Obama?s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said today in
Washington that the president was never in danger of contracting
the disease.
Requested Collaboration
The Mexican government is distributing breathing masks to
curtail the disease?s spread. Soldiers in army trucks handed out
face masks today in Mexico City?s downtown square, known as the
Zocalo.
There is no vaccine against the new strain of swine flu,
health authorities said. Early treatment can help beat back the
disease, said Calderon, who has declined to shake hands in
public to set an example of measures people should take.
?This is very important: The disease is curable and we
have the medicine for it,? Calderon said today.
The demand for masks made them scarce in Mexico City.
Pharmacies in the Roma neighborhood had makeshift signs on the
walls alerting customers that face masks had run out. The
economy ministry will be watching for price abuses related to
medicine and articles needed to combat the flu, Ruiz said.
The Health Ministry in a statement today warned companies,
pharmacies and other sellers of medicine to not advertise
products that ?supposedly cure swine flu and only confuse
people.?
Museums, theaters and other venues in the Mexico City area,
where large crowds gather, have shut down voluntarily and
concerts and other events have been canceled to help contain the
disease. Two professional soccer games will be played today in
different Mexico City stadiums without any fans.
?We request the collaboration to reduce the sources of
contact by suspending events in closed or open spaces of any
type,? Cordoba said.
Murals Closed
Soldiers wearing face masks stood at the entrance of the
national palace, telling tourists that the site of famous Diego
Rivera murals was closed until further notice.
Cristiana Correa, 29-year-old tourist from Brazil, wandered
the vast Zocalo with a guide book and map in hand trying to find
a tourist attraction that was open. Correa said she?s concerned
she won?t be able to see much during her two-day stay in the
city.
?I don?t have anything to do,? she said. ?Today, I
planned to see the National Palace and the Templo Mayor.
Yesterday, I tried to go to the Frida Kahlo museum.?
Emergency Decree
The emergency decree lets Calderon regulate transportation,
send inspectors into any home or building, order quarantines and
assign any task to all federal, state and local authorities as
well as health professionals to combat the disease.
?The health of Mexicans is a cause that we?re defending
with unity and responsibility,? Calderon said. ?I know that
although it?s a grave problem, a serious problem, we?re going to
overcome it.?
Mexico City?s international airport, which handles about
70,000 passengers each day, was operating normally today,
according to its press office. Passengers are given a
questionnaire asking if they have flu symptoms and recommending
they cancel their trip and see a doctor if they do.