Mexico reopens schools after flu closures

MILLIONS of children, many wearing surgical masks, returned to scrubbed and disinfected classrooms yesterday after a nationwide shutdown to curb the spread of swine flu in Mexico.

As the worldwide toll of deaths linked to the illness rose to 61, pressure increased for massive production of generic versions of expensive antiviral drugs.

Mainland China got its first confirmed swine flu case – a Chinese man who had been studying at the University of Missouri – prompting a scramble to find and quarantine more than 200 fellow passengers on his flight to China.