FOREIGN MINISTRY CONFIRMS RI NATIONAL INFECTED WITH H1N1 VIRUS

Jakarta, June 19 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian foreign affairs ministry has confirmed that an Indonesian national, infected with swine flu or the H1N1 virus, is currently being treated in a hospital in Singapore.

"The Indonesian national's name is Oei Williem Widyanata who is currently being treated and quarantined in a Singaporean hospital with 'suspect' status," Teuku Faizasyah, a spokesman of the foreign affairs ministry, said here on Friday.

Oei Williem Widyanata was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus upon his arrival from Melbourne at Singapore's international airport.

"He flew in from Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday (June 13)," he said.

Widyanata is an Indonesian employed as a skilled worker overseas, according to Faizasyah.

The foreign affairs ministry had communicated with the family of Oei Widyanata on his medical treatment , he said.

"Oei Williem will not likely be returned to Indonesia as all of his relatives live in Singapore," he said.

The number of swine flu cases in Australia is continuing to rise dramatically, with doctors saying there are now many more people infected than the official figure of 1,400.

Melbourne, an Australian city that's one of the hardest-hit by the first flu pandemic in four decades, is exporting swine flu to Asian countries, including Singapore, according to Blomberg news recently.

Singapore confirmed six more cases of the virus, five of whom were people returning from Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, the Singapore government said in a statement recently. The new case brought the number of swine flu cases in Singapore to 27.

South Korea today confirmed three more cases of swine flu, including an 11-year-old boy recently arrived from Australia, raising the North Asian nation's number of swine flu cases to 59, the government said.

Melbourne and the rest of Victoria state have more than 1,000 cases of swine flu, Blomberg reported.