Mexico has announced what it calls a return to "normalcy." It's preparing to reopen businesses and schools, even as the A/H1-N1 virus sickened more than 1,400 people in 20 countries.

A man walks in front of a closed restaurant in Mexico City May 4, 2009. Mexican businesses will resume regular activities as planned on Wednesday after a five-day shutdown due to the fatal flu outbreak, the health minister said on Monday.

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, says the flu is waning at its epicenter.

As the five-day nationwide shutdown came to an end, streets in the capital appeared more lively.

Some cafes even reopened ahead of time.

Javier cortez, a waiter, said, "Little by little we are recovering. I don't think we will have the same level of business we used to, but little by little people will come."

President Calderon says universities and high schools will reopen on Thursday, and younger schoolchildren should report back to school a week from Monday.

The flu outbreak is estimated to have cost Mexico's economy hundreds of millions of dollars. In a televised address to the nation, Calderon said the government will take measures to boost economy.

President Calderon said, "Among the measures, we are going to reduce temporarily, the taxes charged to cruise lines for tourism which come to our country."

The latest figures from Mexico suggest the virus may be less lethal and infectious than originally feared.

Only 38 percent of suspected cases have turned out to be A/H1N1, and no new deaths have been reported since April 29th.

(CCTV May 6, 2009)