S. Korea to raise flu alert to highest level this week

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to raise its alert status for
Influenza A (H1N1) to the highest level this week, mobilizing all government
organizations and resources to stem the spread and casualties of the highly
contagious disease, government officials said Sunday.
The government is planning to convene a national crisis assessment meeting
Wednesday to discuss elevating the nation's anti-epidemic alert status to "Red,"
the highest in the four-stage disaster alert system which also includes Blue,
Yellow and Orange, depending on its seriousness.
The planned move comes after the government heightened the alert status to the
second highest, Orange, on July 21 as the cases of new flu infection involving
community transmissions were increasing.
Under the Red alert status, the government will mull over a nationwide school
closure, mobilization of military medical personnel and recommendation for travel
restraint, among others.
"As the number of daily infections with H1N1 virus topped 10,000, the situation
guarantees systemic countermeasures," the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family
Affairs said. "It is necessary to ratchet up the alert level."
Since the first local outbreak in May, the new flu has forced the temporary
closure of local schools and delayed student and public gatherings, raising the
country's death toll to 40 as of Sunday.
To stem the spread of the virus, the government plans to urge people to refrain
from traveling or doing outdoor activities and to increase the supply of
equipments necessary for conducting tests on patients.
It will also consider whether to temporarily close all middle and high schools
and private teaching institutions until Nov. 13 when students begin to get flu
vaccinations. Moving up the start of the winter vacation is one of the options,
it said.
"As experts and related government agencies are divided over the school closures,
more deliberation is necessary to make a final decision," a government official
said.
On Tuesday, South Korea launched its first round of vaccinations under a plan to
inoculate 35 percent of the country's 49 million people. The first batch of
vaccinations is only for medical and quarantine staff, who are far more likely to
be exposed to the virus on a daily basis and could transmit it to patients.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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