Swine flu cases top 2,000 around world

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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World health chiefs admitted yesterday they had yet to get a handle on swine flu and warned against any lowering of the guard after the epicenter of the epidemic, ended a nationwide lockdown.

High schools and universities reopened in Mexico, the day after offices and restaurants were cleared to take down the shutters that had been ordered to remain in place for five days in a bid to contain the outbreak. "Fortunately, we've managed to stop the dangerous expansion the virus could have had," Agence France-Presse quoted President Felipe Calderon as saying during a hospital visit. However Calderon added that "it's not time to shout victory or to say that it's now controlled and over," warning "there will be more" cases.

The world-famous Aztec and Mayan pyramids were also reopened to tourists as Mexicans savored the return of something approaching normality.

Keiji Fukuda, acting director-general of the U.N.'s World Health Organization, acknowledged the body was still struggling to get to grips with the magnitude of the A(H1N1) virus and warned it could become more virulent later in the year with the onset of the northern hemisphere's flu season.

The WHO said yesterday the number of confirmed swine flu cases around the world surpassed 2,000. WHO raised its tally to 2,099 laboratory-confirmed cases, from 1,893 late Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Officials said the agency was likely to shorten its annual meeting later this month from 10 days to five because of the outbreak, which it was scheduled to discuss. WHO's 193 member states still must approve the change, said three officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.