Australia: 1207 confirmed cases

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Australia: 634 confirmed cases

Re: Australia: 634 confirmed cases

<headline>Victorian swine flu tally jumps to 752</headline>

<!-- Class 'push-0' just right-aligns the element so that the main content comes first. --> <!-- cT-storyDetails --> <cite>June 4, 2009 - 6:34PM</cite>
An interstate stoush has broken out over NSW's decision to impose a seven-day quarantine period on children returning from Melbourne, as Victoria's swine flu toll hit 752.
The figure includes the latest spike of 231 cases - far higher than any other state. NSW is coming a distant second with 74 cases.
While other states, including South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, have made similar quarantine decisions, it's NSW that has received a lashing from Victorian Premier John Brumby.
He suggested a decision by NSW Health, to ban returning children from attending school for a week, could be an act of retaliation for Victoria's successful tourism push in NSW.
"Swine flu is an international and national phenomenon and that's the fact of the matter ... and frankly I thought the statements made by particularly the NSW government were just silly and extreme," Mr Brumby told reporters.
"I don't know what's driving this from a NSW point of view.
"I do know that we launched a very successful tourism campaign in NSW just a little while ago, I do know that there are lots of NSW citizens who have been attracted to Victoria, maybe it's a bit of retaliation for a successful tourism campaign."
He said swine flu had been in the community for "some time" and it was likely it would spread through NSW just as it had through Victoria.
"So to say that people shouldn't travel is really a nonsense," he said, adding that tens of thousands of people travel between the neighbouring states each day."
"To say that children who've attended a State of Origin game in Victoria ... when they return to NSW they are not allowed to go to school goes against all the advice that is provided by experts and the health protection committee."
Earlier in the day, he described the decision as "bizarre".
But NSW Premier Nathan Rees defended his government's decision.
"What we do have is cases of community transmission in Victoria that we don't have in NSW," he told reporters in Sydney.
"NSW, like Queensland, will take all necessary precautions to minimise the spread of swine flu.
"We take advice from medical experts on this, no one else."
Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews denied Victoria had been blacklisted.
"At the end of the day, I think that decision will be rendered unworkable very, very soon as we see numbers grow in other states and I would not say that decision was proportionate with the risks posed by the H1N1 virus," Mr Andrews told reporters.
He believed other states would "come in line" with Victoria soon.
Victoria has moved its flu alert level from contain to modified sustain, meaning resources are now focussed on high-risk areas, rather than on closing schools and quarantining people.
Mr Andrews said as part of the new phase, extensive testing for the virus would no longer be required, as those who meet the definition of carrying swine flu will be given anti-viral medication by their doctor.


http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-...ine-flu-tally-jumps-to-752-20090604-bw93.html

 

[kiwibird]

Re: Australia: 876 confirmed cases

Re: Australia: 876 confirmed cases

ABC June 4, 2009, 5:17 pm


Patients are being tested for swine flu



There has been another surge in the number of people with swine flu in Victoria, with 752 people now confirmed as having the virus.

That is an increase of more than 230.

School students with flu-like illnesses are still being quarantined, but schools are no longer being automatically closed if there are multiple cases.

About 5,000 people have been quarantined in Victoria during the swine flu outbreak.

The state's acting chief health officer Rosemary Lester says the symptoms of the virus continue to be relatively mild.

It comes as Victoria's Premier criticised other states over their swine flu quarantine measures.

The governments of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania all recommend that children who return from travel to Victoria should be quarantined for seven days.

John Brumby says that advice is "nonsense".

"The statements that were made, particularly by the New South Wales Government, were just silly in the extreme," he said.

"To say that children who've attended a State of Origin game in Victoria last night... when they return to New South Wales they're not able to go to school - it just defies all of the advice which is provided by the Australian health protection committee.

"I don't know what's driving this from a New South Wales point of view.

"I do know that we launched a very successful tourism campaign in New South Wales a little while ago.

"I do know that there are lots of New South Wales citizens that are being attracted to Victoria, maybe it's a bit of retaliation for a successful tourism campaign."

But the Queensland Premier has rejected Mr Brumby's criticism.

Anna Bligh says the measures are what the Government has been advised to do.

"The handling of this disease in Queensland means that we have limited the number of cases to 28 - considerably less than we see in some other states," she said.

"That may change, but for as long as we have relatively low numbers, I'd like to keep it that way.

"We'll keep working to contain this in ways that we know work, in ways that our best health professionals advise us to do."

Meanwhile, Tasmania's Health Department is giving few details about a woman who is being treated in hospital after testing positive for swine flu.

Three new cases have been confirmed in the state, taking Tasmania's total to five.

Two of the new cases are ambulance officers and eight of their colleagues have been quarantined as a precaution.

Acting director of public health, Dr Chrissie Pickin, says the third is a woman who is now in hospital, but would not give any more details.

"I don't want to release that information. The people who are at risk are people who have other pre-existing chronic conditions," she said.

"Respiratory conditions, heart conditions, diabetes, morbid obesity and also pregnancy is a risk factor.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/australian-news/5628927/vic-swine-flu-cases-soar/

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Australia: 876 confirmed cases

Re: Australia: 876 confirmed cases

Australian Swine Flu Count Breaks 1,000 as Victoria Cases Surge

By Ed Johnson

June 5 (Bloomberg) -- The number of confirmed swine flu cases in Australia rose to more than 1,000 today, as federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the government expects the virus to spread across the country.

Victoria, the worst-hit state, confirmed a further 122 cases overnight, taking its tally to 874, its health department said. Authorities believe H1N1 influenza will advance ?in all jurisdictions,? Roxon told reporters earlier in Canberra.

The cases are proving to be ?mild? and the outbreak isn?t severe enough to restrict interstate travel, she added.

The World Health Organization is monitoring the spread of the virus in Australia as the agency decides whether to declare the first influenza pandemic in four decades. The virus has sickened 19,273 people and caused 117 deaths since it was discovered in Mexico and the U.S. in April, the United Nations health agency said two days ago.

Australia has the highest number of confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza outside of North America. Sustained community transmission outside the Americas would give the WHO the evidence it needs to declare a pandemic.

Victoria, which has about 87 percent of Australia?s cases, upgraded its pandemic response this week to reflect the spread of the virus is beyond prevention.

Victorian authorities will focus on administering anti- influenza medication to confirmed cases, the state?s health department said. People with confirmed infections in the state will have to isolate themselves for three days.

New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have said children who travel to Melbourne should stay away from school for a week on their return home. Queensland and Tasmania imposed the same conditions for children returning from visits to any part of Victoria.

About 16 schools have been closed across Australia in response to the outbreak.

New South Wales has 75 confirmed cases, Queensland 32, South Australia 8, Tasmania 5, the ACT 5, the Northern Territory 3 and Western Australia 2, their health departments said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: June 5, 2009 03:12 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aZo4SyXmjD8Q&refer=australia

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Australia: 1207 confirmed cases

Source: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-...s-swine-flu-tally-now-1207-20090608-c006.html

Australia's swine flu tally now 1,207
June 8, 2009 - 7:59PM

There are more than 1,000 cases of swine flu in Victoria, with 137 positive tests recorded in the state over the weekend.

The national swine flu tally stood at 1,207 on Monday night, with 1,011 of cases in Victoria.

NSW added seven new cases on Monday, with a total of 89 positive tests.

Queensland had 49 confirmed cases, including rugby league player Ben Hannant, according to federal government figures. However, the state's health department said the count had risen to 53.

There are 20 confirmed swine flu cases in Western Australia, 13 in South Australia, 10 in the ACT, nine in Tasmania, and six in the Northern Territory.

Meanwhile, schools across the nation are keeping their doors shut to limit the outbreak of swine flu.

In Western Australia, about 200 students at an exclusive boys school were told to stay home after 10 new cases of swine flu were confirmed on Sunday.

The WA Health Department says an 11-year-old boy from the exclusive Scotch College and a 23-year-old woman who had visited Melbourne tested positive on Saturday and were in home quarantine.

WA Communicable disease control acting director Paul Effler said of the 14 cases, nine were children, all aged about 11, attending three Perth schools including six at Scotch College, two at Christ Church Grammar School and one at East Claremont primary school, all in Perth's affluent western suburbs.

Mr Effler said they are now working with schools to discuss the best course forward.

"We're recommending partial closure, or in the case of a small school closure for a limited time," he said.

Meanwhile in Queensland, a school in far north Queensland has extended its closure following the latest confirmed swine flu cases on Sunday.

Education Queensland says Cairns State High School, which was due to reopen on Tuesday, will stay closed until Thursday, after confirmation that a second student has contracted the disease.

The student attended school last Wednesday - a day before it closed following confirmation of the first case.

In Victoria, which has the highest number of confirmed cases of swine flu with almost 900, the government last week said schools would no longer automatically close if there were confirmed cases across several classes, with students with flu-like illness spending three days in home quarantine.

Last week, an interstate stoush broke out over NSW's decision to impose a seven-day quarantine period on children returning from Melbourne following Wednesday's State of Origin rugby league game.

Victoria had moved its flu alert level that day from contain to modified sustain, meaning resources would now be placed in high-risk areas rather than focused on closing schools and quarantining people.