Seoul Set to Raise Flu Alert to Highest Level

[kiwibird]

Seoul Set to Raise Flu Alert to Highest Level

The South Korean government is considering raising its alert level for influenza A (H1N1) to the highest level amid growing public concerns that the virus could turn into a pandemic.

On July 21, South Korea's health authorities heightened the country's alert level against the flu to its second-highest.

As of Oct. 30, the death toll in South Korea from the new flu stood at 35, some two months after the first fatality was reported in mid-August, with the number of confirmed cases reaching over 100,000, Yonhap News Agency said. However, 99.97 percent of the confirmed cases were completely cured.

"The government is always open to raising our national disease alert status by one notch," a government official at the prime minister's office was quoted as saying, adding it will exercise caution if and when it does so as preemptive actions could have a negative impact on the situation.

The government plans to hold a meeting of related ministries next Wednesday to come up with countermeasures to stem the spread of the flu.

Related to a call by the Korean Medical Association that schools of all levels be temporarily closed to prevent the spread of the flu, the government will decide on the matter after a close investigation of the situation.

Hundreds of schools remain closed as the new flu is rapidly spreading among students. On Oct. 27, South Korea launched its first round of vaccinations under a plan to inoculate 35 percent of the country's 49 million people

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/11/113_54622.html

 

[kiwibird]

Re: Seoul Set to Raise Flu Alert to Highest Level

S Korea considers upgrading alert level against A/H1N1 flu
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-31 16:57:03 Print

SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean government is considering whether to raise the nation's alert level against the A/H1N1 flu from the second-highest to the highest as the number of new flu patients is seeing a sharp surge across the nation.

The country's health authorities briefed the presidential office that it is considering such a move, and the presidential office is expected to discuss the proposal and make a decision soon, local media reported on Sunday.

The country revised up the national disease alert level by one notch from the third-highest to the second highest on July 21.

Fears are growing in South Korea recently over the fast spread of the new flu as a daily average of some 8,000 new cases of A/H1N1 was reported recently.

On Monday, the country reported five death cases linked with the new virus, including three kids, posting the largest number of deaths reported on a single day since the epidemic broke out in the country in early May.

As of Saturday, the new contagious disease has claimed 35 lives in the country, and more than 20 people have died this month alone.

The country began the A/H1N1 vaccinations on Tuesday. The first wave of vaccinations mainly covered medical staff and quarantine officers in hospitals designated as A/H1N1 flu-treatment facilities. Vaccinations for elementary, middle and high school students will begin in mid-November, while for preschool children, the elderly and patients with chronic diseases will start in January.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/31/content_12366255.htm

 

[Treyfish]

Re: Seoul Set to Raise Flu Alert to Highest Level

<TABLE id=tbl_article border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 20px"><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Ministry prepares a ?red alert? over the flu
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

November 02, 2009​

</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 20px; LINE-HEIGHT: 23px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" id=articleBody class=actxt>With daily confirmed cases of A(H1N1) flu hitting near the 10,000 mark over the weekend, the Health Ministry said it will likely raise the flu alert to the highest level - red - this week.

?The situation is getting worse, now that the daily contraction tally is projected to have been 10,000 this weekend, from 4,200 earlier last week, and a government-wide measure is needed,? the ministry said yesterday. ?Adjusting the alert level upward has become unavoidable.? But it said that it would be prudent in making the upgrade in order to avoid negative results, such as economic harm to schools, private education institutes as well as restaurants and the tourism industry.

The final confirmation of the level upgrade will be made after the ministry discusses the matter with the ruling Grand National Party, hears from a task force consisting of related ministry officials and receives input Wednesday from a crisis assessment committee. The flu alert has four phases: blue, yellow, orange and red. Since the new flu began to spread on July 21, the ministry issued an orange alert that it has maintained. Should the red alert be announced, it will be the first time for the country to see the highest level since it established the four-phase alert system in August 2006, when avian influenza rattled the globe. The ministry also said that five more people died from the latest strain of influenza over the weekend, including a formerly-healthy 24-year-old woman. As of yesterday, Korea?s flu death toll stood at 40.

On Saturday the Seoul Metropolitan Education Office developed detailed flu-related guidelines that kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in the area must follow. It said that a school can order a specific class to stop meeting if 10 percent or more of its students are confirmed as flu patients or 25 percent or more are suspected of having the illness.

If a school has either two or more classes or two or more grades suspend operations, it can entirely shut down for a certain period. If 30 percent or more schools in any ward stop providing classes because of the flu, it can have all of its schools follow suit. The maximum closing period for kindergartens and elementary schools is six days, compared to four days for middle and high schools.

The Gyeonggi Province Education Office, on the other hand, will gauge the potential risk that the flu poses at each school with numerical marks that take into account various elements, such as school size, population density, contraction rate and the speed of the flu?s spread. On a 50-mark scale, those reaching between 10 and 15 will have individual classes stop operations. Those with marks of between 15 and 20 will have a whole grade suspended. Marks of 20 or more will cause an entire school to shut down.

Meanwhile, Shin Young-soo, the World Health Organization?s Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said hundreds of thousands of Koreans may have already contracted the flu. He predicted some 30 percent of the world population will catch the disease. At that point, humans will acquire antibodies to the A(H1N1) virus, which will reduce its momentum, he said.
:tiphat:http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2911990</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>