Swine Flu update for Businesses

Without causing unnecessary alarm and as part of your Emergency Preparedness we have provided the following information which you may find useful to develop plans to deal with the Swine Flu situation specific to businesses

Depending on the size and type of your business some of the following may apply.

Is your business prepared for a Swine Flu outbreak? Some things for you to consider:

• Have you got a Emergency Response Plan in place for the Avian Flu Pandemic from several years ago?
• Has it been updated to reflect the current Swine Flu requirements?
• Have you got a Business Continuity Plan in place?
• What happens if half of your staff come down with the flu in a short time frame?
• Are people able to work from home?
• Can people take leave?
• What if there are travel restrictions places on the public and by default your employees?

Contact us assistance with this or phone us on 0800 023 789.

Swine Flu FAQ

Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. Those symptoms can also be caused by many other conditions, and that means that you and your doctor can't know, just based on your symptoms, if you've got swine flu. It takes a lab test to tell whether it's swine flu or some other condition. For more.... ( American Medical website)

See also....(NZ Medical website)

Swine influenza - update 5

29 April 2009 -- The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the United Kingdom (5).

For more.....

WHO Swine influenza Website

Mexican Swine Influenza Updates

• Alert status
• Who to contact if you have concerns
• Travel advice
• Media releases
• Press conferences - live audio webcast available
• World Health Organization (WHO) updates
• Centres for Disease Control (CDC) guidance
• Related information

Alert status

Code Yellow is a standby phase, used to alert the health sector when there has been a significant development in the virus overseas, or single isolated cases in New Zealand.
For more....Code Yellow ( What does this mean?)

Who to contact if you have concerns

Members of the public with concerns should in the first instance call Healthline 0800 611 116