Mexico lowers health alert level

Mexican public health officials announced today that the country’s health alert level would be lowered. Citing improvements in fighting influenza A (H1N1) and a reduction in the number of new cases, officials said the health alert level would be lowered from red (high) to orange (elevated).

Lowering the country’s health alert level will allow many businesses in Mexico to reopen this week. In Mexico City, a city particularly affected by the outbreak, public officials said they expected many restaurants, offices and factories to reopen by Wednesday of this week. Churches and museums will reopen on Wednesday. Bars, nightclubs and movie theatres — as well as schools — will remain closed until a later date.

Mexican officials said that although the health alert level was being lowered, the public should remain vigilant and should continue to take precautionary measures to protect themselves from influenza A (H1N1).

“The measures we have taken — and above all the public’s reaction — have led to an improvement,” said Marcelo Ebrard, mayor of Mexico City, at a news conference. “But I insist that the virus is still present, that we need to remain on alert. The resumption of activities will be little by little, not all at once.”

In the United States, CDC officials updated the number of confirmed cases today; the total number of confirmed cases in the United States is now 286 in 36 states. After today’s update, the state-by-state count of confirmed cases is as follows: Alabama (4), Arizona (17), California (30), Colorado (7), Connecticut (2), Delaware (20), Florida (5), Idaho (1), Illinois (8), Indiana (3), Iowa (1), Kansas (2), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (14), Maryland (4), Massachusetts (6), Michigan (2), Minnesota (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), Nevada (1), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (7), New Mexico (1), New York (73), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (1), Rhode Island (1), South Carolina (15), Tennessee (1), Texas (41), Utah (1), Virginia (3), Wisconsin (3).