Ukraine closes schools a week to curb swine flu spread

The Ukrainian government Monday closed the nation's schools for a week to avoid the spread of swine flu and suggested nightclubs, cinemas and food markets in the west also be shut down.

Meeting a shipment of anti-viral drugs at the airport in Kiev on Monday, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko described the situation as an "epidemic," but she stressed that there is absolutely no need for the public to panic.

Tymoshenko's Health Ministry reported that 70 people in the nation of 40 million have died of flu, but did not say how many of those deaths were related to swine flu.

According to the ministry's previous report the number of people who have died of influenza and respiratory diseases has reached 60 and the number of people suffering from the flu is 200,000.

All schools have been closed for a week across Ukraine, even in the capital, Kiev, where there have been no confirmed cases of swine flu. In western Ukraine, local authorities advised people to travel only when necessary, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said.

However,the World Health Organization said Monday there was no evidence that Ukraine had a bad outbreak of swine flu but at the government's request it had sent a health team there to help the country cope.

"The information we have gotten (from the government), we have to double-check it and make sure it is real, evidence-based information," said WHO spokeswoman Liuba Negru.

Tymoshenko's main political rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, said thousands are infected and he's called for assistance from NATO, the European Commission, the United States, Russia and other countries.

Source: Xinhuanet/Agencies