Mexicans were returning to normal life on Thursday after a five-day business shutdown due to the H1N1 flu virus, with China also easing quarantine measures even as the virus spread in Europe. Mexico raised its confirmed death toll from the swine flu outbreak to 42 from 29, but the government says the worst is over and has eased curbs on commercial and public activity. The H1N1 virus, which has killed a woman and a child in the United States, has reached 24 countries and infected more than 2,000 people, according to data from the World Health Organization and national authorities. Sweden and Poland confirmed their first cases on Wednesday. The new flu, a mixture of swine viruses and elements of human and bird flu, has taken the world to the brink of a pandemic and stoked trade and diplomatic tensions as some nations, most prominently China, quarantined Mexican citizens and products. Mexican President Felipe Calderon accused these countries of “ignorance”. They included Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, which turned away a Mexican aid shipment of maize, wheat, beans and medicines, Calderon said. On Thursday, China began lifting a seven-day quarantine for passengers on a flight from Mexico City which included a man who tested positive for H1N1, the Health Ministry said. The dozens of Mexicans had been caught up in a wider drama about how far governments could go to stifle fears the virus could creep across their borders. The spat briefly strained warming ties between Mexico and China. China's official Xinhua news agency also said 25 Canadian students had been released from quarantine in northeastern Changchun. None of the students had shown flu symptoms. Traffic again clogged Mexico's sprawling capital, home to 20 million people, and taco vendors worked the sidewalks again as Mexicans emerged from was described as “a forced vacation”. Security guards ran heat scanners over office workers to check they were free of fever, one of the flu's symptoms, as they returned to work. City officials said bars, restaurants, stadiums and cinemas will reopen on Thursday. “It still feels strange because there aren't many customers,” said restaurant cook Rosa Avila.
