clipped from: www.independent.co.uk Spread of swine flu can no longer be contained, Government admits
Swine flu is spreading so rapidly that the Government cannot contain it any more. The number of new cases could reach 100,000 a day by the end of August, the Health Secretary Andy Burnham warned yesterday.
Firms are being warned to prepare to have up to one-fifth of their staff calling in sick over the autumn. It is also inevitable that the number of deaths from the virus will rise. So far, there have been 7,447 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK, but only three patients have died and all of those had underlying health problems.
If the death toll stays at that level (roughly one in 2,500), the disease could be killing 40 people a day by September – but the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said yesterday that there was not enough information to make precise predictions.