'Stockpile but don't panic', Australians told

1 May 2009, 6:39 am   -   Source: SBS staff with agencies
Share This

Australians should be stockpiling enough supplies to last two weeks on the back of an increase in the swine flu alert level, according to a federal government pandemic plan.

RELATED

Australians should be stockpiling enough supplies to last two weeks on the back of an increase in the swine flu alert level, according to a federal government pandemic plan.

The World Health Organisation has raised its flu alert level to phase five out of six, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent".

Under a federal government pandemic plan, a 132-page manual issued to health services and the media, a phase five alert level is the trigger for Australians to stock up on enough food, water, household supplies and basic medicines to stay in their homes for 14 days, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday.

But the federal government is ignoring its own plan, fearing panic buying, the paper reports. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Ageing called for calm. "I agree that is it confusing," the spokesman told the Herald.

"The manual may say people should be preparing but we don't want a run at the shops."

Australian health authorities have so far cleared 119 people, while another 131 travellers are awaiting test results in each state.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Ageing has called for calm, saying while its own manual may say people should be preparing they don't want a run at the shops.

WHO renames flu H1N1

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation says it will begin referring to the swine flu virus as influenza A (H1N1) and has increased its tally of confirmed cases around the world to 236 from 148.

The global body says most of the new confirmed cases come from Mexico.

Mexico confirmed death toll rises

WHO's flu chief Keiji Fukuda says the number of confirmed cases in Mexico has increased to 97 from 26 including seven deaths but says there's no evidence to suggest the alert should be raised from phase five to the highest level of six.

However Mr Fukuda says the world has to look out for outbreaks of the swine flu virus in the southern hemisphere as the region heads into winter.

Australian airports install flu scanners

Thermal-imaging cameras were installed at Australia's international airports to scan travellers for possible symptoms of the deadly swine flu.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the scanners would operate at Australia's eight international airports on the advice of the nation's chief medical officer Jim Bishop.

"From this afternoon the thermal scanners will be turned on progressively in all international airports and I'm advised that it will be fully operational by around 6pm tonight," Ms Roxon told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

Doubts over thermal scanners in swine flu fight

However, there is some skepticism that the scanners can really detect the flu.

"Border controls don't work. Screening doesn't work." Gabriel Leung, one of Hong Kong's most senior government health officials, agreed that scanners had limitations.

"I don't think any single measure can be 100 percent effective and certainly I would agree with the WHO's assessment that infra-red screening at the border cannot be completely foolproof," he said.

Leung said the scanners should only be seen as one of an array of measures that governments should take.

The cameras use thermal imaging to assess the skin temperatures of people as they pass through a checkpoint, and transform that data into a coloured image on a screen.

 

 

 

 

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube