Canterbury swine flu update

Canterbury swine flu update

Canterbury District Health Board’s Community and Public Health division has established a presence at Christchurch International Airport to assist passengers from overseas that identify themselves as being unwell. They are also providing information to incoming passengers about swine flu precautions in New Zealand.

The division is also still keen to hear from any of the18 people who were on Flight NZ1 and arrived in Auckland at 5am, Saturday 25 April and whom it has not yet been able to contact. If any of these people are in Canterbury and unwell, could they please phone their GP or CDHB’s Community and Public Health division on (03) 364 1777. If they are well they should phone Community and Public Health.

Everyone that was on the flight will receive a five day course of Tamiflu and is being asked to quarantine themselves at home.

There were 14 unwell people in Canterbury among the 42 that local Community and Public Health staff have contacted from the flight. All have a relatively mild illness and none have been admitted to hospital.

With Canterbury contingency planners now focussed on swine flu, a Canterbury pandemic planning exercise that was set to take place at Burwood Hospital later this week has been cancelled.

Members of the public are still advised to phone their GP if they are unwell and have been in Mexico or North America in the last seven days.

ENDS

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