Mexico shuts nonessential services amid swine flu

Mexico is telling citizens to stay home, urging businesses to close for five days and suspending government services as the World Health Organization warns the swine flu outbreak is on the brink of becoming a global epidemic.

In the United States, where swine flu has been confirmed in 11 states, President Barack Obama told Americans the government was "taking the utmost precautions and preparations" to stop the virus.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a televised address that only essential businesses such as supermarkets, hospitals and pharmacies should stay open, and only critical government workers such as police and soldiers would be on duty from Friday through Tuesday. School had already been canceled nationwide through Tuesday.

The steps are aimed at stopping further spread of the virus, blamed for 168 deaths in Mexico and one in the United States, even though the WHO has suggested nations should focus on minimizing its effects, not containing its spread.

"There will be no government activities — those that are not fundamental for citizens — nor any private-sector activities that are not fundamental to common life," Calderon said Wednesday night in a televised address.

"There is no safer place to protect yourself against catching swine flu than in your house," he said, defending the government against criticism that it had been slow to act against signs of a new and dangerous virus.

In the U.S., both Vice President Joe Biden and the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in televised interviews Thursday there would be no practical benefit to closing the U.S.-Mexican border. Biden said on CBS that it would be a "monumental undertaking" with far-reaching consequences.

Biden also said on NBC's "Today" show that he is advising his own family to stay off commercial airlines and even subways because of swine flu. If one person sneezes on a confined aircraft, he said, "it goes all the way through the aircraft."

Within two hours, Biden's office issued a statement backing off the remarks and suggesting he was talking about travel to Mexico.

His precautions go beyond official advice from the U.S. government; Obama merely urged people to wash their hands, cover their coughs and stay home when they feel sick. Calderon gave similar advice.