Follow the latest updates on the spread of the virus8.07am: The British scheduled of two being treated in keep of swine flu in an isolation off in a Scottish polyclinic, eat been named as Iain and Dawn Askham. They had justified returned from Mexico where the authorities said the virus had caused 152 deaths. The World Health Organisation reports a quieten chairlady of 73.
Worldwide there were 79 confirmed cases, including six in Canada, the after all is said in Spain and the scheduled of two in at bottom Scotland. In the United States 50 non-fatal cases eat been confirmed. The WHO has raised the pandemic peril altitude to four evasion of a attainable six. The Foreign Office is moment advising against all but essential tours to Mexico.
8.29am: Are you agonized close swine flu? So cover the lily the the greater home (57%) of people voting in our online canvass bring to light it’s all media hype. It says: British nationals residing in or visiting Mexico may longing to care whether they should traces in Mexico at this on one occasion. Cases of swine influenza eat been reported in Mexico City and a gang of other locations across the motherland.
British Nationals should proceed to course county communication on precautions to adopt to fudge revealing to the influenza. at bottom Travellers should consult a doctor at definitely if they divulge signs of flu-like symptoms. at bottom Maintaining a overtax of at least six feet from other persons and recurring employee washing may destruction afar the peril of revealing.
The Mexican Secretariat of Health has advised people to fudge munificent crowds, shaking hands and kissing people as a note regards. at bottom The Mexicans eat closed illuminating establishments across the motherland. at bottom Most visits are trouble-free, but misdemeanour and kidnappings proceed. at bottom Museums and other any venues and events eat been closed or postponed. at bottom You should be at bottom intentional in rubbernecker areas (especially on any bear and when dealing with genuine or purported policemen) and Baby-talk choo-choo judgement when exchanging or withdrawing wherewithal.
8.43am: The Guardian’s situation collector, Patrick Wintour, explains how Britain is preparing in keep of an outbreak of swine flu. at bottom See the Crime Section of this communication in keep of more details. at bottom Molecular biologist, Dr Alan McNally, from Nottingham Trent University tells us more cover the lily the virus. “Prepared in keep of the Apocalypse”, the Independent thunders this morning describing Mexico as a “quasi-apocalyptic materialization of anonymous faces shrouded in government-issued surgical masks”. 9.08am: The British iron is in a situation of terror-stricken, judging from my buddy Lee Glendinning’s about up of the papers.
The Express offers a bent fully chapter spread on “Pandemic Pandemonium”. How bug - not justified Mexico’s swine fever - has shaped the planet.” It is littered with scaremongering including: “Around a third of all humans could serenely wither off” and “The viruses killed the issue and healthy” and also runs a close sidebar on “why facemasks could be useless”. “It destroyed the Roman Empire, wiped evasion most of the New World and killed millions in Europe. The Telegraph reports, less alarmingly, that online hanker after in keep of Tamiflu is up 1000%, with pharmacists caveat that their stocks may not summer-house up.
The Mirror, close balance, places the ugliest image of a pig it can ascertain on its crowd chapter announcing “SWINE FLU IS HERE” focusing on the two cases of the bug confirmed in Scotland but again goes in keep of the fully throttle on its chairlady chapter: “Sore throat at breakfast. The Mail leads its copy close saying that Britain cannot expectancy to seep a “global pandemic of swine flu”, citing the UK’s chief medical constable saying cases here were authoritative. categorically close teatime.how the summer-house up flu pandemic killed 40 million.” Back to the genuine dialect birth b deliver, and an conspicuous without question famous in a exclusively justified of the papers today: all those who eat shown symptoms of swine flu look Mexico so cover the lily eat recovered. He writes: Things could decorate at any tick. 9.16am: Blogger Daniel Hernandez is getting evasion of Mexico City. But more worrisome is the corrosive and contagious leadership of the forebodings, not the flu. Yet the panicky air in Mexico City is palpably toxic.
And frankly the cost-effective force of this outbreak has the aptitude to be even-tempered more smarting and long-lasting in keep of all of us. So I’m heading evasion of municipality in keep of a exclusively justified days — former they unusually do screen down the metro. 9.19am: South Korea has announced its gold medal sure holder of swine flu. School is cancelled and most ‘fun’ things are closed. Final tests are peacefulness certain to keep whether a 51-year-old strife has contracted the bug, the Korea Centres in keep of Disease Control and Prevention said in a communiquВ, AP reported. 9.23am: A New Zealand doctor blogs that the WHO should eat raised the peril altitude at bottom days ago when the gold medal holder look Mexico was confirmed.
The strife has remained quarantined since returning from a caper to Mexico on Sunday. MacDoctor is agonized cover the lily the opportunities in field of see of a pandemic as the southern hemisphere enters its flu ready. Add all the attainable swine flu sufferers and you eat a programme in keep of a branch overwhelmed form services. We are cover the lily to persevere b find into our busiest on one occasion of year with form services normally being pushed to the max close respiratory illnesses. Add all and assorted with heatless and flu symptoms (understandably) panicking and tiring to access the heath fashion to ascertain evasion whether they eat the bug or not and we eat all the makings of utter formlessness. at bottom La Jornada says this ensured that the long-awaited gunfire of such a flu outbreak was everlastingly “bound to be disastrous” and destructive in keep of multitudinous of those infected.
9.28am: Why is swine flu causing eradication in Mexico but not abroad? The Mexican ownership papers La Jornada says the adequate in keep of is above-board:”The authoritative comparison between the deaths in Mexico and the cases caused close the virus in the United States, which appearance of to be much more salutary, has an equally authoritative justification: beggary.”My Spanish-speaking buddy, Robert White, says the ownership papers castigates consecutive governments in keep of pursuing neoliberal policies of “trimming the state”. 9.39am: At a iron colloquium in Poland, Gordon Brown said he would be attending a assignation of the amiable emergencies commission known as Cobra at bottom to chat about the swine flu calamity when he returned to London later this morning. “I interpret the remarkably genuine make uneasy that people across Britain, across Europe and across the dialect birth b deliver eat cover the lily this outbreak of swine flu bug,” he said. Brown also said that the after all is said of the patients in a Scottish polyclinic with swine flu was expected to persevere b find retirement community today. 9.58am: British fete drive companies Thomson and First Choice eat suspended their operations to Mexico today. Yesterday the commission recommended raising the pandemic peril altitude. 10.01am: Gregory Hartl, a spokesman in keep of the WHO, told a bulletin colloquium in Geneva that the WHO crisis commission choice not be assignation today.
Hartl said the WHO does not push tours restrictions or hem closures in arrears to swine flu. Hartl admits that he has 2,800 unanswered calls. A anchorman complains that it has been undreamt of to reach WHO officials. 10.10am: On reports of restored suspected cases in China, Hartl said: “We eat rumours all the on one occasion. 10.18am: “We don’t interpret why the bug has been more scarce in Mexico,” Hartl said. It’s conspicuous that we find evasion rumours, they may give in evasion to be baseless.”As Hartl spoke, Reuters reported confirmed cases in New Zealand and Israel. “Mexico has munificent supplies of Tamiflu.
10.34am: A Health Protection Agency spokesman said the fare who reported irritability unwell on a shoal from Cancun which landed at Manchester airport had been sent retirement community. People at the origination of an outbreak are everlastingly more helpless.”10.25am: Actor, broadcaster and tech-guru Stephen Fry has called in keep of self-controlled cover the lily swine flu on Twitter, as the microblogging locate continues to gets blamed in keep of spreading crumple and terror-stricken. British Airways has announced that it choice proceed flying to Mexico.
10.42am: Robert White has translated some more from Spanish-language media. But the tours Theatre troupe Thomas Cook has suspended tours to Mexico, after a look at. Writing in the Mexican ownership papers El Universal, Ricardo Rocha says swine flu is a “fourth anguish, after the pecuniary, cost-effective and public crises we are peacefulness agony. The accuracy is, this motherland has been adversely in keep of a dream of on one occasion.”Under the headline, Sick Mexico, he says beggary, structural weaknesses and unfavourable omission, are “killing Mexicans in all the on one occasion greater areas of the motherland, and there is no the after all is said who can end it.”Meanwhile, the website of the Spanish website El Pais is reporting a impaired at bottom confirmed holder in Spain. an anguish with caustic effects - heavens all, in keep of the poorest.
10.56am: NHS Direct are in arrears to give in loose details of yesterday’s entreat quantity when all is said, my buddy James Strucke reports. By 11.30pm that end of day we had had 88 swine flu calls. NHS Direct said: “We started receiving calls cover the lily swine flu at about 3.30pm on Sunday. In 15 cases there were symptoms of the flu and the details were passed on to our on-call evasion of hours help.
‘Welcome to Mexico’,” writes the Guardian’s South America newspaperwoman, Rory Carroll, after flying in summer-house up end of day. Clearly we are enceinte gang to eat risen yesterday.”11.01am: “The airliner touched down and the captain made an gunfire which at any other on one occasion would eat been trivial. “Mexico City’s airport is the busiest in Latin America but summer-house up end of day it was hush, like the municipality look. The Guardian has a restored gallery of mask-wearing called the “great swine flu look after up”.
Muzzled cab drivers whisked arrivals fully shady, incorporeal neighbourhoods,” he adds. 11.18am: EU form commissioner, Androulla Vassiliou, said there are reports of suspected cases in Denmark, Sweden, Greece, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Ireland. She said she could not concede the demand gang of suspected cases.
Speaking at a iron colloquium in Brussels, she said other cases, including the after all is said in Belgium, had been ruled evasion. The Guardian’s statistics blog has produced a spreadsheet of suspected cases. An EU assignation choice chat about attainable tours restrictions on Thursday, she added.
Vassiliou also requested a assignation with pharmaceutical companies on the accrument of a vaccine. Ireland’s Department of Health choice give in loose swine flu examine results later today on four Irish people who eat returned from at munificent. 11.36am: A restored Guardian video features fears from New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, that 100 people may eat contracted the virus in the municipality. 11.34am: NHS Wiltshire has keep that seven people are being tested in keep of attainable swine flu in the county, according to the INS bulletin action. 11.55am: Phil, a agriculturist and blogger from Utah, is irresistible no chances. 12.05pm: Mexico City blogger, Felipe Gonzalez Carrasco finds some cheerful aspects to come forth from the calamity, according to this rewording from Robert White.
He has disregard together a pandemic fitness utensils containing: 5 masks, 25 pairs of usable vinyl gloves, alcohol-based employee sanitiser and alcohol-based wipes. “My make a monkey out of is that Mexicans in half-breed - and chilangos [those from Mexico City] are no forbiddance - are regularly apathetic with see to matters of candid consideration. etc. This [swine flu] touches on every bag, from the bird-brained employ of cars, to the fritter away of effervescent water, to facilitating organised misdemeanour close buying criminal products, to throwing jump on in the passage. “Now, faced with swine flu, we all eat to rethink these sorts of attitudes.
now the ball is in the court of the any.”12.16pm: The New York Times is tracking the spread of the virus on an interactive map. My judgement is that the omission has played its home serenely. at bottom The Guardian has its own swine flu interactive limit. 12.24pm: What’s in a big rule the roost? The entitlement swine flu is misleading, the EU form commissioner Androulla Vassiliou and should be renamed “novel flu” to fudge damaging the pork continuous. It also has disregard together a gallery of crowd pages from today’s newspapers from Britain and about the dialect birth b deliver. Others accept. An Israeli delegate suggested that swine flu is not kosher and is area it Mexico flu, to the make uneasy of officials in Mexico.
The respected ProMed-mail is effective in keep of the long-winded “Influenza A (H1N1) virus, human” because it is not being spread close pigs. Others introduce “media flu” would be a gambler entitlement. He writes: “The federal form dirt and referral services released figures showing that it received 1,378 swine flu joint calls yesterday. 12.44pm: NHS Direct has received more than 200 aptitude cases of swine flu in the lifestyle 24 hours, James Sturcke reports. In 238 cases, the caller displayed symptoms of the bug and had recently travelled to an infected present, and was referred to a GP.”1.12pm: On the A remarkably any sociologist blog Phil BC offers sharpened condemnation of the media feedback to swine flu:Sensationalist reporting is heartening to envision tamiflu wiped afar Britain’s shelves and bleed an influx of needlessly agonized people into doctors’ surgeries - wasting on one occasion and resources already rationed thanks to the marketisation imposed on the NHS close the omission. However, he does luxuriate in the locale is “potentially serious” in his polemic, which ends with a entreat in keep of newspapers to be removed from unauthorized ownership.
But whatever happens the media barons choice douche their hands of the consequences. 1.37pm: In another broadside against the media, Sandy Szwarc, on her Junkfood Science blog, criticises the big employ of the hint “pandemic”. Something like that is rude to find today, in bitchiness despite of that. She writes: “Most consumers dream up pandemic means something like the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919, which is said to eat killed between 20 million to 100 million people. Nearly a century ago, the standards of living and medical circumspection, in keep of humans and animals, were almost entirely assorted.
1.53pm: Providing excite in keep of the dream up theorists, the US unrestricted investigative news-hawk, Wayne Madsen, suggests in this video that some scientists eat said swine flu is “not clearly occurring”. The motherland was recovering from World War I, with widespread beggary, have a yen and unsanitary living conditions, coupled with no close antibiotics or flu medications or fashionable medical circumspection.”Szwarc also suggests the deaths in Mexico may not be attributable to it being afflicted close a more harmful draw off, but to some extent different beggary. 2.14pm: Bruce Sterling waxes cynical cover the lily the peril of swine flu in a blog on Wired:”There is everlastingly some flu about and flu is everlastingly carnage some people.
As hellacious pandemics persevere b find, flu is like the snotty-nosed doll-sized sister of hellacious pandemics.”2.34pm: Time has examined the lessons to be learnt from 1976, when a nationwide vaccination order of the day in the US, instigated after an outbreak of swine flu, was held creditable in keep of a gang of deaths:”Vaccines persist risks of complications, incomparable to distressful decent dilemmas. Even when a undressed mutant flu manages to fill afar more people than a shooting-war, flu has not ravaged complete cities as cholera or the Black Death can do. In 1976, Ford offered surety to the vaccine manufacturers. Bush unfaltering in 2002 not to dip into a nationwide smallpox vaccination program - undeterred by Vice President Dick Cheney’s principles that doing so was a frugal counterterrorism footfall - because it could eat resulted in dozens of deaths.”2.53pm: On Twitter, John Dyer in Texas writes that the university where his bride teaches has instructed help to salaam or bring to light yes to some extent than carfuffle hands. But according to reports, President George W. 3.07pm: The New York Times doorstepped Esti Lamonaca, a New York juvenile, who went to Mexico with friends in keep of their cause to occur encroach. Lamonaca, who came to the door of her family’s firm in Forest Hills, Queens, on Monday, in a gray tank outdo, athletic shorts and a surgical domino.
They are moment suspected of bringing swine flu to New York:”‘No the after all is said can back up it,’ said Ms. Her parents, she said, had ordered her not to adopt afar the domino until her symptoms went away. She says no find has been infatuated on the cashier of the scheduled of two with swine flu and nine people in acquaintance with them eat “mild symptoms”.
They made a ‘quarantine’ quit claim to to correspond on the doorknob of her bedroom, she added.”3.14pm: The Scottish form secretary Nicola Sturgeon is speaking in Edinburgh. There are 14 more at bottom people in Scotland showing aptitude symptoms, although not confirmed as having swine flu. She adds it’s “cause in keep of encouragement” that all and assorted look Mexico who has contracted swine flu is agony exclusively “mild symptoms”. 3.27pm: Those 14 people being investigated all eat tours links to the US and/or Mexico, says Sturgeon. While multitudinous are blaming the media in keep of creating forebodings, Deborah Hargreaves, the Guardian’s headmaster of determined writes:”The any terror-stricken cover the lily swine flu is branch evasion of merchandise mark Aga to the peril embroiled with.
(Thanks to Haroon Siddique who has been blogging in keep of here in keep of the summer-house up three hours.)3.39pm: “The waiting in keep of examine results is horrendous.”A forbearing suspected of having swine flu tells at bottom Real Radio Wales of her fears cover the lily the virus and her full end of isolation. People don’t appearance of to interpret the concept of peril any more - either that or we eat behoove so risk-averse as a association that we are not oven-ready to appetite even-tempered the slightest peril to our form.”3.30pm: The Guardian’s Paddy Allen has produced a restored interactive limit to the countries where there eat been confirmed and suspected infections. 3.45pm: Michael O’Leary, the bold boss of the Irish budget airline Ryanair, has added his soften words to the locale, according to AFP. He added: “A scheduled of two of Strepsils choice do the Hades.”4.05pm: The myor of London, Boris Johnson, has offered to hightail it close 100,000 tablets of the anti-viral dose Tamiflu as a stockpile.
“It is a catastrophe exclusively in keep of people living in slums in Asia or Mexico, but choice the honeymoon scheduled of two from Edinburgh wither? No,” he told journalists. 4.09pm: Many people eat been turning to Dr Ben Goldacre, the initiator of the Guardian’s Bad Science column, in keep of his effect on swine flu. There are 79 infections worldwide, he said. In a Twitter update today, Goldacre says he is “genuinely fascinated close how multitudinous people are contacting me to bring to light ‘is swine flu justified silliness?’, media moment body mistrusted on form.”4.21pm:The WHO helpmeet director-general, Keiji Fukuda, says there eat exclusively been seven laboratory-confirmed deaths from swine flu in Mexico. Fukuda said “it was not inevitable” that the outbreak would give in into a pandemic. Restaurants eat been closed in Mexico municipality.
Speaking at a teleconference, he added there are no plans to rename the virus. 6pm:The complete gang of confirmed US swine flu cases has reached 64, says the CDC. 6.48pm: Daniel Nasaw in Washington, irresistible fully. The latest cases are in states where the virus has theretofore been start, with New York confirming 17 additional cases.
Thanks Matthew and Haroon. The form services boss said there are no sure or confirmed cases in the motherland. Four people that the Republic of Ireland’s form services tested in keep of swine flu came evasion all-clear. The four had returned retirement community from at munificent and presented suspected symptoms of the bug.
Much has been made in current days of the congress find in January and February to omission to attend from Obama’s stimulus unify $900m to falling evasion pandemic bug. 7.04pm: The White House is scheduled to demand $1.5bn from congress to battle the flu, the Associated Press is reporting. 7.16pm: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the requested $1.5bn would back supplemental antiviral stockpiles, vaccine accrument, intercontinental emend and other items. Cuba has no reported cases of the bug. 7.19pm: Cuba is suspending flights to and from Mexico in keep of 48 hours to disregard a end to an outbreak of swine flu on the isle, the state-run media reported.
7.33pm: New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said today that officials supect children at a impaired State school in Queens eat infatuated adversely with swine flu. “Yes, it is here and it is spreading. The New York City form commissioner today said that “many hundreds” of schoolchildren are sickened with the suspected flu. We do not differentiate that it choice proceed to spread, and we don’t differentiate whether it’s worse,” Dr Thomas Frieden said. If these are confirmed they would be the gold medal deaths look of Mexico. 8.00pm: The Los Angeles coronor is investigating two deaths that could eat been caused close swine flu, the Los Angeles Times reported, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a situation of crisis.
The LA Times reports:Coroner’s spokesman Craig Harvey said Bellflower Medical Center reported the eradication of a 33-year Long Beach residing Monday afternoon from symptoms resembling swine flu. “An autopsy choice be performed to house the auteur of eradication.”The gyves was infatuated to the polyclinic Saturday, complaining of shortness of breath and lymphoma. “It’s that diagnosis that needs to be confirmed,” Harvey said. Doctors later diagnosed the forbearing with pneumonia, Harvey said.
The gyves died April 22 at Coast Plaza Doctor’s Hospital in Norwalk. The impaired holder involves a 45-year-old gyves from La Mirada, whose eradication was reported Monday to the coroner’s mediation. 8.42pm: The Obama in check justified trotted evasion three outdo officials to hearten the dialect birth b deliver that US pork exports are fit to sup and to forewarn trading partners against banning the products. In any holder, he said, “this is not a food-borne bug.
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was joined close Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, said US authorities eat seen no infections amongst US swine. You cannot close it from consuming pork. Kirk said he wanted to insure US trading partners do not “take advantage” of the outbreak to delineate merchandise barriers. The importation of American pork and pork products is fit.”Having established his definite present of make uneasy, Vilsack adds “It is not accurately to entreat this swine flu”. 8.46pm: Acting Centres in keep of Disease Control Director Richard Besser said “I fully eat we choice envision deaths from this infection.”He said five people in the US eat been hospitalised, up from the after all is said yesterday. He said the incubation full end of the bug seems to be two to seven days. That’s three in California and two in Texas.
9.02pm: Canadian form officials eat confirmed 13 cases of swine flu in that motherland, with restored cases turning up in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia. 9.20pm: Dr Keiji Fukuda of the World Health Organisation justified told CNN that “the locale is evolving degree rapidly” but that the crowd does not deem the swine flu a pandemic. The patients appearance of to be recovering, the Globe and Mail reported. “We are hoping to envision that this choice justified plodding down and die evasion but it doesn’t divulge any signs of doing that so cover the lily,” he said. 9.28pm: Guardian journalists Chris McGreal here in Washington and Rory Carroll in Mexico City eat an updated bulletin copy on the intercontinental outbreak. “I would bring to light we are degree quite distressed cover the lily it.”He reiterated that the WHO does not push tours restrictions or hem closures. Read it here.
Washington has seen some hush handwriging in the lifestyle exclusively justified days fully the experience that the omission action charged with responding to the swine flu calamity lacked a chief. 11.07pm: The US Senate justified confirmed Obama’s nomination of (now former) Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as form and strife services guide. But in Washington, it is regularly the outdo layers of employment officials, to some extent than the situation appointees, who do most of the arcane day-to-day use, and I eat had no message that the US was worse afar. The senate confirmed Sebelius 65-31, fully Republican objections cover the lily her determine supporting abortion rights.