Authorities rule out human influenza case in Mendoza

MENDOZA.- The director of hospitals for the Province of Mendoza, Susana Bresca, has stated that the Chilean national travelling by bus that displayed symptoms of human influenza has not been infected by the virus.

"The patient is only mildly ill and is suffering from few complications", explained Bresca.

The health authority also said that the Chilean man "is currently staying at the Lencina Hospital for reasons that are more practical than medicinal. He is staying there, he is not hospitalized. It is for his own protection".

With regards to the incidents that took place last night as the bus arrived with the presumably infected passenger, Bresca contended that "what happened upon arrival was terrible and incomprehensible".

"If we look at it from a point of view of someone who is uninformed when it comes to the scale of the illness, it is understandable, but in any case there is no justification for such aggression and uproar", added the authority.

Meanwhile, the Mendoza Minister of Health, Sergio Saracco, has continued to disregard requests to close the land and air border with Chile for fear of the virus spreading.

"No country in the world has closed its borders. There are no indications warranting such a drastic decision. We just need to maintain the preventative measures", stated the minister.