Mexico City  - Mexican authorities increased to 12 Thursday the number of dead of the new variant of influenza A(H1N1) in the country, as testing progresses on samples gathered since early April.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said in a press conference that a total of 260 people have been confirmed to have been infected with the new virus.

The dead are four men and eight women, he said. Seven of the 12 died in Mexico City, four in the adjoining state of Mexico and one in the southern state of Oaxaca.

Cordova Villalobos noted that 547 samples have been tested among all those suspected of involving the new variant of influenza A(H1N1), but he did not specify the total number of suspected cases.

He said that the frequency of new cases in Mexico City is no longer increasing, but he noted that there is no clear picture for the rest of the country.