Suspected swine flu deaths in Mexico top 100MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government is trying to stem the spread of a deadly strain of swine flu as a new work week begins by urging people to stay home Monday if they have any symptoms of the virus believed to have killed more than 100 people. Labor Secretary Javier Lozano Alarcon said employers should isolate anyone showing up for work with fever, cough, sore throat or other signs of the flu.
Fear of the disease caused most residents of Mexico's capital to
hunker down at home on Sunday. The cardinal said Mass in a shuttered cathedral. Soccer teams played to empty stadiums. A television variety show filled studio-audience seats with cardboard cutouts bearing broad smiles on their faces.For the first time in 300 years, the cathedral in Mexico City's main plaza pulled an icon of the Lord of Health from storage, and worshippers placed it on the principal altar.
The Rev. Cuauhtemoc Islas said it would remain there until the medical emergency is over, Mexico's government news agency Notimex reported. But the bad news kept coming. Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova late Sunday that the number of suspected swine flu cases in Mexico had climbed to 1,614, including 103 deaths. Authorities were trying to confirm how many new cases were caused by the virus, which has been confirmed or suspected in at least a half-dozen other countries and has caused the U.S. to declare a health emergency. But even as Mexican officials urged those with flu symptoms to seek medical help, some complained of being turned away.
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