The wonderful Peter Yang
Thermal scanners removed in new swine flu measures
June 18th 2009 03:27
THERMAL scanners will no longer be used at the nation's international airports as part of new swine flu protection measures.
The removal of the scanners comes as the Government increased the nation's swine flu alert level, which will see the downgrading of state and national border defences against the disease.
The scanners, which operated at Australia's eight international airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, were one of the nation’s main means of defence against swine flu.
The decision to remove the scanners is the most public acknowledgement yet that Australia's borders are now open to the disease.
In response to the skyrocketing number of swine flu cases across Australia, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Federal Government acted on Professor Bishop's advice to increase the H1N1 alert level to “protect”.
”Protect is a measured, reasonable and proportionate health response to the risk that the virus poses to the Australian community,” Ms Roxon said.
”It is consistent with the message from the (World Health Organisation) when it lifted its pandemic alert to six, that countries will need to adjust their responses to accommodate the knowledge we now have that this disease is moderate in most cases.”
The new phase will be implemented by Friday and will focus antiviral drugs and medical attention on those deemed most at risk, including pregnant women, the morbidly obese and those with respiratory conditions such as asthma.
People who live with or have come into contact with swine flu patients will no longer be quarantined.
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the states and territories would reopen schools closed because of swine flu and students who had returned from areas affected by the disease would return to school.
Only people with moderate or severe symptoms, or those in vulnerable groups, will have access to the national and state stockpiles of Tamiflu.
Elective surgery and other non-urgent procedures will be postponed if demand for intensive care units and emergency departments becomes too great.
Australia's chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, said the public health programs introduced since swine flu was first detected locally made it unlikely the modelling scenarios would eventuate.
”We think that we can mitigate it down to a similar experience with ordinary season flu, but we don't have evidence of that yet,” he said.
The government is increasing surveillance, monitoring and testing for swine flu in hospitals and general practices to replace earlier mass-tracing regimes, with the first measures of its spread and virulence expected over the next few weeks.
The new measures include:
Focus on early treatment of those identified as displaying severe and moderate symptoms and people considered to be at heightened risk from swine flu, including pregnant women, the morbidly obese and those with respiratory conditions like asthma.
Voluntary home isolation for those who are sick.
Antiviral drugs, including Tamiflu, will not be prescribed for otherwise healthy patients with mild symptoms.
People who come into contact with swine flu patients will not be quarantined.
Thermal scanners no longer used at airports.
Schools reopen, children who have travelled to swine flu affected areas no longer excluded from school.
(This article is copy from www.news.com.au) Click here to read the article from the original site
The removal of the scanners comes as the Government increased the nation's swine flu alert level, which will see the downgrading of state and national border defences against the disease.
The scanners, which operated at Australia's eight international airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, were one of the nation’s main means of defence against swine flu.
The decision to remove the scanners is the most public acknowledgement yet that Australia's borders are now open to the disease.
In response to the skyrocketing number of swine flu cases across Australia, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Federal Government acted on Professor Bishop's advice to increase the H1N1 alert level to “protect”.
”Protect is a measured, reasonable and proportionate health response to the risk that the virus poses to the Australian community,” Ms Roxon said.
”It is consistent with the message from the (World Health Organisation) when it lifted its pandemic alert to six, that countries will need to adjust their responses to accommodate the knowledge we now have that this disease is moderate in most cases.”
The new phase will be implemented by Friday and will focus antiviral drugs and medical attention on those deemed most at risk, including pregnant women, the morbidly obese and those with respiratory conditions such as asthma.
People who live with or have come into contact with swine flu patients will no longer be quarantined.
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the states and territories would reopen schools closed because of swine flu and students who had returned from areas affected by the disease would return to school.
Only people with moderate or severe symptoms, or those in vulnerable groups, will have access to the national and state stockpiles of Tamiflu.
Elective surgery and other non-urgent procedures will be postponed if demand for intensive care units and emergency departments becomes too great.
Australia's chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, said the public health programs introduced since swine flu was first detected locally made it unlikely the modelling scenarios would eventuate.
”We think that we can mitigate it down to a similar experience with ordinary season flu, but we don't have evidence of that yet,” he said.
The government is increasing surveillance, monitoring and testing for swine flu in hospitals and general practices to replace earlier mass-tracing regimes, with the first measures of its spread and virulence expected over the next few weeks.
The new measures include:
Focus on early treatment of those identified as displaying severe and moderate symptoms and people considered to be at heightened risk from swine flu, including pregnant women, the morbidly obese and those with respiratory conditions like asthma.
Voluntary home isolation for those who are sick.
Antiviral drugs, including Tamiflu, will not be prescribed for otherwise healthy patients with mild symptoms.
People who come into contact with swine flu patients will not be quarantined.
Thermal scanners no longer used at airports.
Schools reopen, children who have travelled to swine flu affected areas no longer excluded from school.
(This article is copy from www.news.com.au) Click here to read the article from the original site
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