Health ministry presents swine flu contingency plans

PALMA
THE Balearic Health ministry yesterday announced its plans to confront the threat of the spread of swine fever in the region, confirming the extra number of beds which would be made available in hospitals and the levels of contagion which would trigger the Health Service response.

Health Minister Vicenç Thomas confirmed that in the event that the disease spread to the extent of between 60 and 600 new cases per 100'000 head of population each week, his department was reserving between 80 and 400 beds in public hospitals for serious cases of the swine flu and between 50 and 200 in private and state-assisted hospitals.

Thomas gave reassurances that according to the level at which the swine flu spread, relevant measures would be put in place at hospitals and health centres to ensure there is sufficient staff, medicine and other resources to cope with the outbreak.