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The empty cordoned-off seats in Mexico City restaurants signal the latest attempt to stop the killer swine flu virus from spreading. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday ordered that the eateries serve take-out food only. He also called for the shut-down of other places where people could mingle: gyms, swimming pools and sports halls. Others on the long list of closed spaces: bars, discos, stadiums, museums, theaters, cinemas, church masses and of course, schools and universities. Any non-essential place where the public can meet, have fun and spread disease is off limits.

These containment tactics in the Mexican capital are being closely watched in cities across the world from Los Angeles to New York, where swine flu is also slowly seeping through the streets. But how are policy...