MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced on Saturday that by presidential decree he has assumed control of the state of emergency imposed on Mexico after the outbreak of swine flu.

“Today I have published in the Official Gazette of the Federation a decree by which the presidency assumes the functions and attributions that the General Constitution of the Republic attributes to the president in cases of emergency such as that we are going through,” the president said in a communique.

The president, who attended the inauguration ceremony of a specialist hospital in the municipality of Salina Cruz in the southern state of Oaxaca, said that the nation is facing “a serious problem” but that “we are going to overcome it.”

Health authorities in the Mexican capital, the area in the country hardest hit by the outbreak of a new, fatal swine flu strain, said Saturday that no new deaths from the disease have been detected over the past 24 hours, and that they are analyzing another two dozen patients who could be infected.

Authorities in the capital viewed the situation with relief, saying that in contrast to previous days when one or two deaths would occur, no further deaths have been reported since Friday.


In Mexico state, which surrounds the capital, epidemiology authorities said that 44 cases of swine flu have been recorded between Jan. 1 and April 24, and three deaths.

Dr. Victor Torres, deputy director of epidemiology for Mexico state, said that he could not guarantee there will be no more deaths from this virus and asked people to wait for further news from studies of other cases that were to be issued Saturday.

It was expected that in the course of the day the authorities would publish a new report on the general situation, after a meeting of the General Health Council attended by health secretaries from the nation’s 32 states.

The Mexican capital and neighboring Mexico state have a total population of some 25 million people. The metropolitan area, which includes the Federal District and surrounding municipalities in Mexico state, is inhabited by some 18 million people.

The outbreak of swine flu has led other countries, mainly those nearby or with which Mexico has considerable contact through travelers, to take preventive measures – as is the case with Central American nations and the United States, another country where cases of swine flu have been detected.

About that situation, the Tourism Ministry said Saturday that “no restrictions exist” and “no international alert” for traveling to Mexico has been issued.

The ministry said in a communique that the World Health Organization ruled out the possibility of a quarantine on Mexico, so that “the entry and departure of travelers will continue normally.”

According to health authorities, swine flu is very contagious and can easily be transmitted with a simple handshake, a kiss or a sneeze from an infected person.

The Mexican capital has several points of dense human concentration, such as the metro transport system where sanitary face masks are being handed out as a preventive measure.

The alert issued Thursday night by the federal government included the suspension of classes in schools and universities in the capital and Mexico state.

Also canceled were all official public events and big shows in the capital, where a large number of people are wearing the sanitary face masks being distributed in the streets by emergency service workers and the military.

The latest information provided by federal authorities on those infected remains at 1004 cases with 20 deaths confirmed as a result of swine flu, while another 48 deaths are being submitted to laboratory analysis, with the results expected in the coming days.


Mexico’s Health Secretary Angel Cordova also said Friday that there is enough medicine to take care of patients and that it is an anti-virus acquired months ago to prevent an outbreak of avian flu.

On Friday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon presided over a meeting of the General Health Council, which includes the health secretaries from the nation’s 32 states, to evaluate the situation caused by the outbreak.

Calderon described it as an “emergency” and said that the government has taken “and will continue to take all the necessary measures, and will decree whatever measures of urgency and prevention that are necessary, according to the evolution of the disease observed among the civilian population.”

The media are issuing frequent updates on the situation and urge people to pay attention to the health authorities’ recommendations.