Flu pandemic officially over
December 1, 2010
HEALTH minister Nicola Roxon
today announced that Australia’s
Pandemic Alert level would move
from PROTECT to ALERT,
“signifying the end of the H1N1
influenza (swine flu) pandemic”.
She said the move was being
taken on the advice of Chief
Medical Officer Jim Bishop as well
as the Australian Health Protection
Committee.
“Levels of influenza-like illness in
the community now continue to be
low, although sporadic activity has
been reported within some states
and territories,” she said.
The ALERT phase involves
heightened vigilance for a new
influenza virus, or a change in a
current circulating virus.
Roxon said that a total of 44,403
confirmed cases of swine flu had
occurred in Australia since May
2009, but only 6767 this year.
She also confirmed that an
assessment of the Australian health
sector’s response to the 2009
influenza pandemic is under way,
focusing on what was planned,
what happened during the response
and with the aim of identifying key
issues and lessons learned.
“This information will be critical
to inform future pandemic
planning,” Roxon said.
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