Fatfluffcat, Told you so - Mexicans stockpile face mask

Mexicans stockpile face masks

By North America Correspondent Kim Landers for AM

AM | abc.net.au/am

Posted 5 hours 39 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 43 minutes ago
An employee of Mexicana Airlines wears a surgical mask with a butterfly painted on it

Must-have item: Some Mexicans are sporting decorated face masks, like this airline worker (REUTERS: Felipe Leon)


In Mexico, the search for the source of the new strain of swine flu continues as the nation struggles with the dubious distinction of being the epicentre of the outbreak.

Up to 159 deaths are being blamed on the swine flu in Mexico and more than 1,000 people remain in hospital.

A Mexican toddler in Texas has now become the first death from the virus in the USA.

But for many residents of the capital Mexico City, daily life grinds on.

Just a few blocks away from the hospital where many of Mexico City's sick are being treated for swine flu, there is one small business doing a roaring trade - selling face masks and disinfectant hand gel.

The shop assistant, Jesus, says he has worked there three years and he has never seen anything like this.

He says he used to sell about 10 masks a day, but now he is selling more than 500 - sometimes as many as 1,000.

His first customer of the day is a doctor from the hospital up the road who is buying dozens of masks for his patients and his family too.

From today, all bus drivers and other public transport operators in Mexico City have to wear both masks and gloves.

If they do not, they are fined or their vehicles can be confiscated.

At one bus stop near the hospital we meet a mother with her six-week-old son. She has got him wrapped tightly in blankets, completely covered, but she gives me a sneak peek at his sleeping face.

She has only ventured out to register her son's birth, and she says she will stay indoors from now on.

Mexican officials say there have been 159 deaths and almost 2,500 infections in this flu outbreak. More than 1,300 people remain in hospital.

While business at chemist shops is booming, for other small traders times are tough.

A vendor near a local cemetery has been selling flowers since 1970, but today he has sold nothing, his elaborate wreaths and long stemmed roses sitting on tables in a shed.

He blames it on the swine flu.

This outbreak is showing no signs of letting up.

In the United States the number of cases has surged to 100 across 10 states. In Mexico City, residents are watching and waiting for a sign that this swine flu outbreak is easing.

Tags: health, diseases-and-disorders, swine-influenza, mexico

Do you know someone who has been affected by the outbreak? Are you in Mexico or another country which has confirmed the virus? Send us an email or send us your photos, videos and audio clips.