Mexico back in business after shutdown

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-08-2009 17:10

Public activities have been resumed in Mexico after being suspended by the government in a bid to stop the A-H1-N1 flu virus from spreading. But as Ioan(Yoan) Grillo reports from the capital of Mexico City... time is needed for the country's economy to bounce back from the effects of the flu virus.

A Mexican student attends her class wearing a surgical  mask at the Faculty of Medicine in the Mexican Autonomous University in Mexico City. Global health chiefs warned  against complacency over swine flu Thursday saying one  in three people may be infected worldwide if there is a  pandemic, as life in Mexico got back to normal. (AFP/Luis Acosta)

After an eerie 12 days of shutting down the country because of the deadly A/H1N1 flu virus, Mexico is finally getting back to business. Shops have reopened their doors, workers returned to their offices and factories kick-started their production lines.

High school and university students also returned to their desks Thursday, although with strict new hygiene rules.

But Mexico's economy will need time to bounce back from the effects of the flu. Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said the lost business and fleeing tourists have had a major impact.

Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said, "We're calculating the total loss to be about 2.3 billion dollars."

Especially hard hit is the restaurant industry, with the government closing eateries to stop customers spreading the A/H1N1 virus.

Claudia Silva, who owns a taco restaurant in the center of Mexico City said she will take at least two months to recuperate the lost earnings.

Claudia Silva, restaurant owner said, "It was very difficult because the costs were still there --- water, electricity, wages. We had to use our savings to keep going. But health is more important than the economy."

Silva said plenty of customers have come back since she has reopened and she is optimistic about the future.

But while Mexicans may be eating out again, there are no sign of the foreign tourists who provide the nation with 15 billion dollars a year.

Whether these tourists will return could largely depend on how much more the virus spreads.

Health Minister Jose Cordova warns that although the infection rate has slowed, the flu virus is still on the streets, with more than 1,000 confirmed cases and 44 confirmed deaths.

Health Minister Jose Cordova said, "There is a worry that as we allow all these activities again, people will stop following the safety procedures."

Mexico has survived crisis like the before - like the earthquake in 1985 and the currency crisis ten years later. But the difference this time is it doesn't just depend on Mexico's own efforts but on how this new virus will develop.

Editor:Zhang Yun