Mexico is planning to allocate some 17.4 billion pesos (US$1.3 billion) to help businesses and individuals affected by the A/H1N1 flu, Finance Minister Augustin Carstens said on Tuesday.

The minister said such sectors as entertainment, restaurants and travel agencies were hard hit.

In the worst-hit Mexico City, bars, restaurants, nightclubs and gymnasiums had all been shut down to stem the spread of the new flu.

Cancelled tours have emptied 3,200 hotel rooms in the resort town of Los Cabos in the state of Baja California Sur, the town's tourism director Miroslav Bautista said on Monday.

In addition, 19 cruise ships have cancelled stop-offs in the port of Cabo San Lucas, which means a reduction of 40,000 visitors.

On Monday, Carstens said half of the fees to be charged on cruise ships in May-July would be waived, and a fund of 200 million pesos (US$15.1 million) will be set up to boost the country's battered tourism.

Airlines will also see a 50-percent reduction of flights in Mexican air space from April to June, he added.

Efforts would also be made to boost credit to small and medium-sized businesses, he said.

As part of the package, the Agriculture Ministry's finance arm Financiera Rural will offer credits of up to 1 billion pesos (US$75.5million) to pork farmers.

The A/H1N1 flu virus was widely known as swine flu until the World Health Organization requested a name change, and pig farmers had complained of a drop in pork demand even though people won't contract the disease by eating pork.

The Finance Ministry is also offering a range of rebates on tax and health insurance payments.

"Faced with the current emergency our nation is experiencing, the federal government has put in place all the tools at its disposal to confront it in a determined and opportune manner," said Carstens.

Mexican authorities on Tuesday announced 29 people have been killed by the epidemic and confirmed cases also rose to 913.

Worldwide, 1,740 cases have been confirmed and the United States reported the second death of the flu beyond Mexico -- a Texas woman in her 30s.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2009)