Personal Injury Law

Mexico City's Tough New Rules Hurt Business

By Jane Akre

Mexico City Enforcing the Rules 

Mexico City and its population of 20 million people are slowly returning back to everyday life after a five-day shutdown to stop the spread of swine flu, but with afew new rules and regulations.

42 people died from the H1N1 swine flu variant in Mexico, which has proven less virulent than first thought. 

Subways are seeing a much-needed scrubbing while café doors are swinging with customers, but now they can only seat half of their capacity. Customers must sit at least six feet away from each other, under new government regulations.  And waiters and waitresses must wear surgical masks on the job.

Businesses are being urged not to have meetings. 

Want to go to the movies?  You'll find there must an empty seat on either side of you and in the row in front of you and the row behind.

School children remain at home as a precaution but high school and university students are slowly returning to the classroom. 

Parents of 33 million young students had to scramble to make alternate plans.  Elementary schools will reopen next week,  reports the Los Angeles Times.

Needless to say the business community says this is not sustainable. 

A steak house manager is saying goodbye to profits for now. 

"I'm just opening so I can keep paying my staff. But I won't make any money," he said. "The government has to relax these rules soon."

With the tourism industry also hit hard, that country's finance minister says Mexico has taken a $2.3 billion dollar hit from the contagious virus.  

"It is not time to declare victory and say it is over," said President Felipe Calderón in the western state of Michoacan, reports The Telegraph. "We cannot say that it's under control, that there won't be any more cases."

2,100 cases of suspected swine flu have been reported in 24 countries, according to the World Health Organization.  #

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on May 07, 2009 (boomark / email).