++ Swine Flu death tally for this morning: 152 in Mexico
++ Twenty-two people were reported dead from the swine flu outbreak in the Federal District, 10 in San Luis Potosí; 4 in the State of Mexico; 2 in Tamaulipas and one in Oaxaca.
++Yesterday the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert level on the swine flu outbreak affecting Mexico from Phase 3 to Phase 4 on a 1 to 6 scale… This means that there is efficient person-to-person transmission of the virus. (Comment: We were probably at Phase 4 a while back. It is clear that human to human transmission was taking place for at least a couple of weeks. … Could we be at Phase 5 already?
++ What are we going to do with the kids? Health Secretary José Ángel Córdova Villalobos warned that the country is at the most critical moment of the swine flu epidemic… He said that in view of that classes will be cancelled at all levels in all of Mexico until May 6. (Comment: Start renting a lot of movies, this could go on for a while…)
++ Can´t we get a break? One person died of a heart attack during an earthquake measuring 5.7 degrees on the Richter scale that struck Mexico this Monday… The fatality occurred in Guerrero, one of several states to be rocked by the earthquake, among them Oaxaca, Michoacán, and Puebla… The quake also hit Mexico City, causing panic and forcing people to run from their homes and office buildings onto the street. Some home suffered damage during the quake.
++More bad news? The peso lost ground to the dollar suffering its largest decline since October 2008 on fears sparked by the spiraling swine flu outbreak… The Mexican currency was sold for 14.10 pesos per dollar, 70 cents higher than the previous close, and the buying rate was 13.60 pesos per dollar. The Mexican Stock Exchange dropped 3.34 percent, its seventh largest fall this year.
++ The National Water Commission cancelled the fourth water cut planned May 1-4 in Mexico City, to allow citizens sufficient water to face the swine flu epidemic.
++ Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama, said the situation was grave but not yet cause for alarm as 48 cases of swine flu infection were confirmed in New York, and the number could rise as more than 100 students showed symptoms from the disease.
We are likely already at Level 5 on the WHO scale. As soon as human-to-human transmission is confirmed in a second country, they'll raise the level and it appears likely that such cases have occurred in NYC. I would not be surprised to see this change happen today. Level 5, incidentally, means a pandemic is imminent.
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