Schools could be forced to stay closed after the summer break if the swine flu pandemic worsens, it was announced yesterday as officials confirmed details of the latest people with the virus to die.
A woman who died after giving birth on Monday in Whipps Cross hospital, East London, was infected with swine flu, a hospital spokesman said.
Ruptara Miah, 39, was paraplegic after a car crash 15 years ago. She was from Bangladesh and had six other children, a family spokesman said.
Other deaths reported in the past few days include those of a baby under the age of six months who died at the Royal Free Hospital on July 8, and a man aged 70 who died at the Royal London Hospital on July 14.
Investigations are continuing into the sudden death on Tuesday of a boy aged 7 from Rochester, in Kent, although health officials said that the cause appeared to be “a range of complications which were not related to swine flu”.
The total number of deaths linked with swine flu stands at 29 in the UK. Ten people have died in the capital, and NHS London is investigating a further three to see if they were linked with the virus. About 55,000 people reported flu symptoms last week, while the number of patients in hospital with the virus doubled to 652, of whom 53 are in intensive care.
Figures issued by Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, suggest that the under-14 age group is being hit hardest, with a further surge in cases possible as early as late August or September.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families said yesterday that while it expected schools and nurseries to open as usual in the autumn, it “cannot be certain what the situation will be”.
About 1,000 schools had recorded cases of swine flu, the department said in its guidance to teachers, though most had managed to stay open. At the start of the outbreak, affected schools closed in an attempt to contain the virus but Britain abandoned such steps as the number of cases became too high.
The department said that it was monitoring the situation daily. Schools would be told in the last week of August what to do at the start of term.
Its statement said: “We expect that schools and early years and childcare settings will reopen as usual, but at this time we cannot be certain what the situation will be then; we will need to monitor developments over the summer, and take decisions based on the best advice available shortly before the start of term.”
The planning document issued to the NHS by the Chief Medical Officer suggests that the NHS should plan services around a worst-case scenario of 65,000 swine flu deaths this year. It suggests that if the present growth in cases is sustained there could be a peak in the flu pandemic in early September, with up to 30 per cent of the population experiencing symptoms.
But it is possible it could begin to slow down over this month and next, before a resurgence in the autumn, when schools reopen.
Sir Liam said there was now “exceptional influenza activity” across most of the country apart from Yorkshire and the Humber.
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