Flu brings less crime, blue sky to Mexico City

updated 7:41 p.m. ET April 30, 2009

MEXICO CITY - The sound of leaves rustling in the wind replace a cacophony of commuter car horns. The lone bark of a dog echoes from a far-off balcony into the normally bustling restaurant district, suddenly empty of lunchtime crowds and late-night revelers.

Swine flu has also brought an unusual calm to this city that never shuts up. Crime is down and even the smoggy skies have turned a shade approaching blue.

Throughout Mexico City, a megalopolis of 20 million, hustle and bustle has given way to shuffles and sighs.

Mexico has taken drastic steps to prevent the flu's spread: By presidential decree, almost all businesses and government services nationwide will shut for five days starting with the May Day holiday Friday. Only "essential services" such as transportation, supermarkets and hospitals are being kept open. Schools were already closed nationwide.

'Takeout service only'
In the Bohemian Condesa neighborhood, sidewalks usually crowded with diners sharing loud gossip and blowing clouds of cigarette smoke were empty on Thursday. "Takeout service only" signs plastered restaurant doors.

In well-heeled neighborhoods, security guards wearing blue face masks stood outside apartment buildings where tenants were heeding the advice to stay home, avoid crowds, rest up and keep their germs to themselves.

Bike messengers, street cleaners and dog walkers strolled easily along quiet streets, emptied of the exhaust-belching, horn-blowing Hummers, SUVs, moving vans and trucks that normally crowd them.

"Some people are even saying they don't want their pets to go out, because they're afraid they'll catch something," 18-year-old dog walker Carlos Alfredo Rey Zamora said, a face mask dangling from his neck. "There's no traffic anywhere and there is hardly anyone in any of the parks."

In the working-class Mexico-Tacuba neighborhood, broad avenues usually clogged with buses, trucks and taxis were wide open, offering a swift hassle-free ride with unhindered views all around.

Peseros — small, boxy vehicles that normally speed by with 40 passengers squeezed into a space intended for 20 — rumbled by empty in search of fares.

Central plaza deserted
The enormous central plaza, the Zocalo, was deserted. Gone were the usual crowds of drum-pounding "Aztec" dancers with bells on their feet and feathers in their hair, hopping and twisting in circles amid perfumed clouds of incense.

The Zocalo's imposing Metropolitan Cathedral was free of the usual sightseers and worshippers with their rosary beads. Even the throngs of barefoot beggars who normally sit with their dirty palms outstretched for alms were nowhere to be seen.

Crime in the capital has dropped nearly a third since the swine flu outbreak was made public last week, according to the Attorney General's office, with 280 crimes reported this week compared to 430 the week before. Muggings were down 37 percent as potential victims stayed home, and shoplifting also dropped, with stores closed and customers staying away.