Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said on Wednesday that 17 more people suspected of suffering swine flu have died, but only eight deaths are confirmed died of the new strain of A/H1N1 swine flu.

Cordova said that 99 people have been confirmed with the new swine flu strain, 91 of whom are being treated in the nation's medical centers.

Among the confirmed cases, "eight of them have sadly died," Cordova told a press conference in Mexico City. "We are now using the same methodology used internationally," he added.

Until Wednesday, the Health Ministry has been presenting data based on suspicious cases. On Tuesday night, it said 159 people have died of symptoms linked to the new viral strain, but only seven of these are confirmed A/H1N1 cases. At that point 152 deaths remained to be confirmed.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mexican media reported two Mexican laboratories had come into use, allowing the government to test batches of 65 samples every six hours.

At the same press conference, the officials ordered the closure of nonessential services at government offices and private businesses, from May 1 to May 5. As May 1 and May 5 are in any case national holidays and May 2 and May 3 are Saturday and Sunday, this implies only one day of closure, Monday May 4.

Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said the outbreak of the new, deadly swine flu could cut up to 0.5 percent from the country's gross domestic product during 2009. He added that despite the severity of the outbreak, there was little likelihood of the stoppages having a long-term effect.

"The nation's productive capacity has not been affected," he said. "Only tourism and hotels are likely to see an extended fall. We think the recovery will be swift."

Cordova added that Mexico City remained the worst hit with 83 of the confirmed cases, the state of Mexico is the next worst hit with 13 confirmed cases. The remaining confirmed cases are one each in Colima, Oaxaca and Veracruz.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2009)