Mexico, former swine flu hub, tests nerves with coronavirus strategy

A worker carries out the disinfection of a metro car, as part of Mexico City's government's measures in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). [Reuters]

Mexican officials are dragging their feet on border closures and coronavirus containment measures, in what critics call a high-risk strategy driven by bad memories of a shutdown a decade ago that deepened the country’s recession during the swine flu epidemic.

The United States and neighbors in Latin America have suspended flights, banned public gatherings and closed schools.