Seoul Set to Raise Flu Alert to Highest Level

From: The Korea Times | Nov. 02, 2009

The South Korean government is considering raising its alert level for influenza A (H1N1) to the highest level amid growing public concerns that the virus could turn into a pandemic.

On July 21, South Korea's health authorities heightened the country's alert level against the flu to its second-highest.

As of Oct. 30, the death toll in South Korea from the new flu stood at 35, some two months after the first fatality was reported in mid-August, with the number of confirmed cases reaching over 100,000, Yonhap News Agency said. However, 99.97 percent of the confirmed cases were completely cured.

"The government is always open to raising our national disease alert status by one notch," a government official at the prime minister's office was quoted as saying, adding it will exercise caution if and when it does so as preemptive actions could have a negative impact on the situation.

The government plans to hold a meeting of related ministries next Wednesday to come up with countermeasures to stem the spread of the flu.

Related to a call by the Korean Medical Association that schools of all levels be temporarily closed to prevent the spread of the flu, the government will decide on the matter after a close investigation of the situation.

Hundreds of schools remain closed as the new flu is rapidly spreading among students. On Oct. 27, South Korea launched its first round of vaccinations under a plan to inoculate 35 percent of the country's 49 million people.