流感入侵 墨西哥人過上虛擬生活

Churchgoers celebrate Mass via television. Congressional candidates campaign with real-time speeches on the Web. A magazine promises Internet tours through the real Mexico - the one with open museums and pyramids. And rock bands plan online concerts.

The H1N1 epidemic is creating a virtual Mexico.

With school canceled nationwide and many parents forbidding their kids to party, teenagers are logging a lot more time chatting on Facebook, Twittering and downloading music and movies from the Internet. So are many adults, especially after most business and government offices in Mexico City shut down on Friday for five days.

Two rock bands are making a go at reaching shut-in fans, announcing a virtual concert for today. Los Estramboticos, a Mexico City group, and Pastilla, a Latino band from the United States, will perform in a studio and broadcast it online. At least they can get exposure while Mexico's ban on concerts lasts.

But boredom was still not enough to lure many Mexican City residents from their homes on Sunday, 10 days into a flu outbreak that killed at least 22 people and sickened more than 560 in the country, most of them in the capital region.

Normally packed churches were all but empty. Priests in surgical masks offered Mass before a handful of faithful - also wearing masks. Cardinal Norberto Rivera held a televized service from the Metropolitan Cathedral for those staying home.

Sunday also marked the official start of campaigning for the July 5 congressional elections - but the government urged candidates not to hold rallies where the virus could spread. So candidates turned to the Internet to reach a population afraid to join screaming crowds, shake hands or hold out babies for kisses.

經常去教堂做禮拜的人現在跟着電視做彌撒，議會候選人通過網絡發表實時演講來競選，一家雜誌許諾通過以開放博物館和金字塔而著稱的the real Mexico網站推出墨西哥網絡遊，搖滾樂隊也在策劃網絡演唱會。

甲型H1N1流感正將墨西哥變爲一個虛擬國度。

由於全國學校停課，很多家長不允許孩子參加派對，所以青少年們將更多的時間用在了上Facebook聊天、寫Twitter以及從網上下載音樂和電影等網絡活動上。很多成年人也用這樣的方式來打發時光，尤其是上週五墨西哥城多數商家和政府部門開始五天的停業和停止辦公之後。

兩個搖滾樂隊則試圖博得宅在家中的粉絲們的青睞，他們宣佈將於今天舉辦一場網絡演唱會。墨西哥城的Los Estramboticos樂隊和美國的Pastilla拉丁樂隊將在演播室中進行演唱，並通過網絡播出。至少在墨西哥禁止舉辦音樂會的這段時間，他們還能露面。

雖然呆在家裏很無聊，但這還不足以讓很多墨西哥城的居民於上週日走出家門。截至當天，甲型流感已爆發10天，至少有22名墨西哥人因此喪生，560多人患病，大多數患者居住在首都地區。

平時擁擠的教堂空無一人。牧師們戴着口罩在幾名同樣戴着口罩的虔誠教徒前面做彌撒。諾伯特•里維拉主教在都會大教堂爲呆在家中的教徒提供電視彌撒服務。

將於7月5日舉行的議會選舉的競選活動也於上週日正式開始，但政府要求候選人不得舉行集會，以防病毒傳播。因此候選人們只有通過網絡向人們做宣傳，現在墨西哥人對擁擠的人羣、握手或把孩子抱給別人親吻都很害怕。