MEXICO CITY — Smells of soap and bleach mixed with the aroma of grilled meat and fried tortillas as Mexicans on Wednesday scrubbed down sidewalks, opened up restaurants and tried to shake off days of flu-induced solitude. But the country's much-anticipated "return to normal" was more of a stumble than a leap.
Merchants complained that the rules they must abide by in reopening their stores, restaurants and theaters are so onerous that they might as well stay closed. A person sitting in a theater, for example, is supposed to keep two seats vacant on either side -- as well as a row in front of and behind him.
"There will be more people on the stage than in the audience," said theater producer Tina Galindo.
And even as businesses and offices opened their doors, vendors returned to the streets and traffic picked up considerably in sprawling Mexico City, the nationwide death toll from the H1N1 flu virus rose dramatically. That in turn made many parents wonder whether it was really safe to let their children return to school, a process that is supposed to begin today. Compounding their concerns: Officials said 40% of the nation's schools have substandard bathrooms.
"The fact that we are renewing activities is to try to return gradually to normal, but obviously we cannot yet return to normal," Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said.
Authorities say the swine flu outbreak has cost the country, already mired in recession, billions of dollars, especially in the hard-hit tourism industry and among small businesses.
The rules for reopening could result in further economic woes, businessmen said.
By limiting seating in theaters, a venue with capacity for 960 spectators would be able to seat only 160.
"It's absurd," said Silvia Pinal, a veteran actress from Mexico's golden age of cinema.
Restaurants, some of which reopened Wednesday after eight days, are required to position diners 6 feet apart and screen them when they enter, surveying their health status and offering antibacterial gel for their hands.
"We are here and ready. I just hope the customers come," cashier Adelfina Villalobos said from behind her medical face mask at El Farolito, a chain restaurant offering low-cost tacos al carbon and carnitas. Employees had removed chairs from every other table to comply with the distance-between-diners regulation.
