British airlines blocking swine flu travellers

EPIDEMICS

Swine flu could tip world into deflation: British study
The global swine flu pandemic could tip the world into deflation, stalling economies just as they struggle to recover from the financial crisis, a British study said Friday. Recovery could be delayed by a couple of years in a country like Britain, the worst hit in Europe and is quickly spreading around the world, said the study. Comparing swine flu to major health crisis including SARS in 2003, the Oxford Economics study said much depends on how many people are infected by the A(H1N1) virus. "Although so far the social and economic impacts have been very small, if infection rates were to rise much further, significant costs could be expected," it said. "The SARS economic shock proved short-lived. Asian economies were growing very strongly when SARS broke out. As soon as the epidemic was perceived to be under control, consumption resumed and very strong growth returned. But it warned: "This time around, such a sharp rebound is unlikely." Swine flu threatens to keep millions of workers at home, while consumption and travel will be hit due to public health fears. "GDP loss during the six months of the pandemic would amount to around five percent in the UK," it said, adding that calculation was based on a 30 percent infection rate and 0.4 percent death rate. England's chief medical officer Liam Donaldson said Thursday that in a worst case scenario, around a third of Britain's population could be infected and 65,000 killed. "There is a risk that swine flu tips the UK and the world economy into deflation. This is because the pandemic would hit at a time when businesses and banks are still reeling from the economic crisis," the report authors said. The warning came a day after Britain reported a sharp increase in its swine flu death toll, from 16 to 29 victims, saying that some 55,000 people were believed to have contracted the virus last week. Concerns are also being expressed about when vaccines will be available to counter the virus, as forecasts of the global death toll rise, even if the World Health Organisation (WHO) has so far reported about 430 deaths worldwide. The Oxford study concluded that Britain "should in principle be able to cope with a swine flu pandemic," but warned of a "significant risk that the pandemic triggers... unfavourable behavioural changes that tip it into deflation. "A flu outbreak in the autumn would hit just as the economy starts to recover from the credit crunch. It would threaten already fragile businesses and put further strains on financial markets and fiscal balances. "This could generate a vicious cycle that postpones the recovery for another couple of years," it said.

Swine flu death toll rises to seven in Ecuador
The number of people killed by swine flu in Ecuador rose to seven on Sunday after health authorities confirmed two new fatalities due to the A(H1N1) virus. A statement from the Ecuadorian presidency said the victims were a 24-year-old woman from the southern town of Loja, near the border with Peru, and a 21-year-old man from the southern town of Cuenca. The number of people infected with swine flu in Ecuador has now risen to 307 since the virus was first detected in the country on May 15.

by Staff Writers
London (AFP) July 19, 2009
British airlines on Sunday stepped up restrictions on suspected swine flu carriers, as a report said four more British students quarantined in China have had infections confirmed.

Britain is Europe's worst-hit territory, with estimates of 55,000 new cases last week, and both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they have put in place measures to turn back passengers showing symptoms.

"If we have concerns about a customer or the customer is concerned, then we have a 24-hour medical service we can call to give advice to staff," said a British Airways spokeswoman.

"There have been a number of cases where we have advised customers not to fly on the basis of their diagnosis or symptoms of H1N1."

Britain's health authorities are advising people with symptoms to delay journeys if they are feeling unwell.

"If there are signs of something being wrong, be it excessive sneezing or coughing, not looking well, high temperature, then the airport staff can call in a medical team for extra advice," added Virgin Atlantic spokesman Paul Charles.

"If the medical team believe there are reasons not to fly, the passenger will be asked to produce a fit to fly certificate from their doctor or a hospital, and they will be put at our cost on to the next available flight."

The news of more stringent checks came with a group of 52 students and teachers in quarantine after the British Council said four students tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus upon their arrival in Beijing for a study tour.

Later Sunday, the BBC said on its website that another four British school pupils from the same group had been confirmed as having swine flu following tests.

"It was a bit of surprise to be detained at the airport. We have been in a state of shock," Ian Tyrrell, one of the teachers leading the tour, told AFP by telephone from the hotel where the group was quarantined.

Tyrrell said there were some Americans and other nationalities under quarantine at the hotel, some of them students, but he could not provide a specific number.

He added that two of the children who tested positive for swine flu had since rejoined their groups in quarantine, while two others were "doing well" in a Beijing hospital.

China, which has registered around 1,500 positive cases of the virus, has launched aggressive measures to try and detect swine flu, including temperature checks on foreign flights into the country.

While the World Health Organisation has stopped collating figures on infected numbers, European Union Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou predicted Saturday that 60 million people across the 27-nation bloc would need priority vaccination.

Northern France, next to the Channel crossings into England, has seen an upsurge in new cases over the past week -- and Italy has warned that the start of the next school year could also be put back.

The spread of swine flu shows no sign of abating, with Egypt reporting its first death linked to the virus on Sunday after a 25-year-old woman returning from Muslim holy places in Saudi Arabia died in hospital.

Egypt's top cleric or mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, said he would not issue a decree barring Egyptians from making the pilgrimage, but health officials said all returning pilgrims would be quarantined.

New cases were also confirmed Sunday by Moroccan health authorities and in Russia, where a sailor back in port became the ninth person infected since the end of May.

In the last table released by the WHO on July 6, the UN agency had recorded 94,512 laboratory-confirmed cases in 136 countries and territories since April, including 429 deaths.

burs/rt/gk

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EPIDEMICS

Swine flu sweeping world at 'unprecedented speed': WHO
Paris (AFP) July 17, 2009
Swine flu has swept the globe at "unprecedented speed," the World Health Organisation said Friday, as a study warned the pandemic could tip the world into deflation and delay the economic recovery. The WHO said it would stop giving figures on the numbers infected by the A(H1N1) virus to allow countries to channel resources into close monitoring of unexpected developments and patterns in the ... read more

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