New alert level near as flu tops 300 cases - 紐澳

From: http://tinyurl.com/lag5ze

The Canberra Times- New alert level near as flu tops 300 cases 2009.06.01
BY DANIELLE CRONIN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Swine flu has now hit every Australian state and territory, with the number
of cases surging past 300 and authorities bracing for the ''tipping point''.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon reported yesterday officials had now
detected infected people in the Northern Territory and Tasmania.

So far, 303 people had been diagnosed with swine flu in this country.

This includes four in the ACT.

Victoria remained hardest hit, with 212 people infected and about 3000 people
in quarantine to date.

Authorities were trying to ''contain'' the spread of swine flu but Ms Roxon
warned about the tipping point when it would be impossible to search for
people exposed to the virus.

''We obviously need to make sure that while we have the capacity to trace, in
particular those who have been in contact with confirmed cases, that we do
that,'' Ms Roxon said.

''There is a tipping point at which it won't be possible to continue to do
that, and where we can assess that the disease really has become a community
disease.

''Then we would move to a new phase where all of those efforts go into
treatment and identification of people who are at risk.

''We are not at that point yet but as the numbers increase in Victoria we
obviously will assess how soon we're at that point.''

--