1st May 2009
By Alex Klaushofer
Councils and health care providers have insisted that they are well prepared should swine flu reach epidemic proportions in Britain.
Alarm has been rising since the World Health Organisation warned that the risk of a pandemic was ‘significant’. On April 27, it raised the alert to Phase 4 — one stage behind Phases 5 and 6, which signal a full-blown epidemic.
According to the Local Government Association, councils around England are well placed to deal with widespread infection.
‘Councils have well-developed contingency plans,’ said LGA chair Margaret Eaton. ‘They are already in touch with the health service and other agencies to make sure they are prepared to cope with the effects of flu.’
The British Medical Association has warned that doctors are likely to receive enquiries from anxious patients. But a spokeswoman said GPs had received ‘very few’ calls so far.
In a statement on April 29, Health Secretary Alan Johnson said the government was taking steps to increase the government’s stockpile of antiviral drugs from enough for 33 million people to enough for 50 million.
