MANILA, 7 July 2009, 1600 hrs—Health authorities in Brunei Darussalam cautioned parents to monitor the health of their children before sending them to school, according to local media reports, as the school term resumed amid a surge in cases of Pandemic H1N1 2009. Meanwhile, countries in the Western Pacific Region advised that the virus will inevitably spread further into their communities.
Local media reports quoting senior health and education authorities in Brunei Darussalam said a school would not be closed unless there was major widespread transmission in the school. Parents should not send their children to school if they are infected, but instead seek immediate medical care, the officials said. The number of cases in Brunei Darussalam increased by 40 from the previous reporting period to reach 164.
Singapore's Ministry of Health disclosed that 13% of samples taken from people with influenza-like symptoms were positive for Pandemic H1N1 2009, as the number of cases there grew by 56. The ministry predicted this percentage would increase as the virus spread further into the community and displaced other flu strains.
Similarly, health authorities in Australia said they expected more people to be infected by the virus, as the Department of Health and Ageing announced that country's 12th death linked to Pandemic H1N1 2009. The man, in his early fifties, passed away in the Northern Territory on 6 July.
In the state of New South Wales, where two people with the virus have died, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant estimated that 20%-to-40% of the population could be affected by the virus, according to local media reports. The state has reported one-quarter of Australia's 5733 cases and health authorities there are making more hospital beds available for an influx of patients with flu symptoms.
New Zealand's Ministry of Health advised that the number of cases in that country was higher than the official tally of 1059, as only a small proportion of people with symptoms were being tested. As case numbers rose by 98 from the previous reporting period, the ministry announced it would start releasing information on how many people are hospitalized and in intensive care due to the virus.
Elsewhere in the Region, case-counts climbed in Hong Kong (China), Macao (China), the Republic of Korea, and Viet Nam.
The total number of laboratory confirmed cases in the Western Pacific Region stood at 14 345, as of 7 July, with 17 deaths (in brackets besides the case numbers below) linked to the virus. A number of countries are now into a mitigation phase of their response to the disease and are no longer testing all suspected cases. Some countries are not reporting on a daily basis.
- Australia 5733 (12)
- Brunei Darussalam 164 (1)
- Cambodia 7
- China 1040
- Hong Kong (China) 973
- Macao (China) 60
- Taiwan (China) 61
- Cook Islands 1
- Fiji 2
- Japan 1790
- Lao PDR 5
- Malaysia 112
- New Zealand 1059 (3)
- Palau 1
- Papua New Guinea 1
- Philippines 1709 (1)
- Republic of Korea 286
- Samoa 1
- Singapore 1111
- Vanuatu 3
- Viet Nam 226
More on Pandemic H1N1 2009