Wirral student caught up in swine flu panic in Mexico

May 6 2009 Bromborough and Bebington News

A WIRRAL student has told of her life living in the country at the centre of the international swine flu outbreak.

Siobhan Kirby, 23, from Neston, told the News Mexico had almost “ground to a full stop” and she was longing for normality after spending day after day indoors.

She has been living in Guadalajara in Jalisco, four hours away from Mexico City, since August 2008 as part of her International Business with Spanish studies at the University of Birmingham.

She said the once-thriving international student community at nearby Tec de Monterrey had now disintegrated due to swine flu fears.

Siobhan said: “Whilst the epicentre of the outbreak is Mexico City, precautions and fear have swept the whole of the country.

“Masked people are everywhere, and the slightest cough or sneeze sends people into a frenzy.”

Siobhan said news of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico City started to filter through on April 24, but that at first life in Guadalajara had continued as normal.

She said: “Getting up at 7am four days a week for Spanish classes, tutorials, exams – in hindsight I long for that normality.

“The country has almost ground to a full stop. First with all educational institutions closing until May 6, and the announcement that all employment would be suspended across the country until May 5, with what is likely to be devastating consequences for the already fragile economy.”

She said socialising was a thing of the past and trips outside were limited.

She said: “Despite considering media coverage to be something of an exaggeration, fear levels remain high and staying indoors for 23 and a half hours a day, every day, certainly addles the brain. A 20-minute trip to the car park of the local shopping mall to exchange sold Ebay goods made me feel horribly uncomfortable.

“Rumours are rife, but I try and remain objective. I feel it is too premature to make a decision to leave.

“So life goes on, albeit boring. Days are filled with meal planning, Facebook, MSN, online scrabble, and a spot of lunchtime drinking, which fortunately induces afternoon naps to pass the boredom.

“Three hours later and it’s time for the evening dinner and then bed, dreaming of normality.”