HOA Nut House

Authorities in Argentina's capital have declared a health emergency in response to swine flu hitting the city hard and increasing the related death toll to 35.

Following the fast-spreading outbreak of swine flu in Buenos Aires, authorities in the capital and the surrounding province announced Tuesday that they had extended school vacations for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren to contain the strain.

Together, the areas are home to almost half of the Argentine population. According to officials, students residing in the areas will start the school winter break on Monday -- two weeks early -- and that the break would last four weeks.

"I am asking kids to stay home and to not go to places with a large concentration of people to avoid the infection," the mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, said during a televised news conference.

Health authorities took the measures to prevent the risk of the virus spreading at a faster pace in the Southern Hemisphere.

The authorities have not ordered the closure of public places, such as restaurants, theaters or shopping malls.

NAT/AA

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