S. Korea raises new flu alert to 2nd-highest level

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's health authorities heightened the country's alert against Influenza A to the second-highest level Tuesday amid signs the H1N1 virus is spreading quickly nationwide.

The country has been reporting dozens of new cases daily. Earlier in the day,
authorities confirmed 41 more flu cases, including 11 elementary school students,
raising the tally of infections here to 935.
The students are believed to have contracted the disease through so-called
community transmission, in which people are infected without travel to affected
countries or contact with other patients.
"We have decided to raise our national disease alert status by one notch as cases
of community infections are growing in which transmission routes cannot be
verified," the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said in an
e-mailed statement.
"The number of flu cases has been increasing with a steady influx of foreign
students during summer vacation ... and a massive number of infections among
domestic school students," the ministry said. "This raises concerns that the
disease could quickly spread across the nation with high probability that it
could turn into a pandemic in the autumn season."
Under the move, the ministry said it will shift away from its current
"containment and isolation" strategy in curbing the spread of the disease toward
a "damage-minimizing" policy aimed at preventing death and curing patients with
serious symptoms.
South Korea has been relatively insulated from the global pandemic, which has
claimed hundreds of lives since the disease was first identified in April, but
concerns are growing as the number of daily infections increases at a fast pace.
No deaths have been reported here.
Fears are also mounting over the increasing number of local cases involving
community transmission.
As of Tuesday, 140 people remained in isolation for treatment, with the other
confirmed and suspected cases having been released from hospitals after showing
no further symptoms. More than half of all confirmed cases were inbound
travelers.
The government earlier said it has set aside 174.8 billion won (US$139.3 million)
to secure enough vaccine to inoculate around 27 percent of the nation's
population against the flu virus. The vaccines will be available beginning in
November, ahead of the winter flu season, it added.