Ukraine Closes All Schools to Fight Swine Flu

Urging its citizens not to panic, Ukraine on Monday closed down all schools nationwide for a week to avoid the spread of swine flu and suggested that nightclubs, cinemas and food markets in the west also shut down.

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 in to help the country cope.

"But this is not an indication that the situation is severe," said WHO spokeswoman Liuba Negru. "The information we have gotten (from the government), we have to double-check it and make sure it is real, evidence-based information."

Ukraine's Health Ministry said Monday that 67 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. Worldwide, outbreaks of regular seasonal flu claim 50,000 lives each year.

Nevertheless, 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.

All outdoor markets have been closed in the western region of Lviv, where the governor also urged cinemas, cafes, nightclubs and theaters to shut down until further notice.

Some observers, including the speaker of the parliament, Vladimir Litvin, suggested that these measures are the result of political wrangling ahead of the country's presidential election in January. The pivotal vote could overturn the 2004 Orange Revolution that swept a pro-Western government to power.

"We are seeing a political competition to see who will be the first to lead this process (of fighting swine flu)," Litvin said, according to the UNIAN news agency.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko met a Swiss shipment of anti-viral drugs at the Kiev airport on Monday.