Qld continues swine flu containment plan

Another southeast Queensland school closed in a swine flu scare last week will
reopen on Tuesday but 11 others will remain closed.
A North Lakes State College student suspected of having the influenza A(H1N1) virus
has been cleared, Queensland Health says.
On Friday, the school, north of Brisbane, was closed for the rest of the school term
as a precautionary measure but it will now reopen on Tuesday.
An Education Queensland spokesman said he understood parents may be inconvenienced
by the changing advice.
"This decision was made to protect the health and wellbeing of our students and
assist in preventing the spread of human swine influenza in the school community,"
the spokesman said.
Three state schools previously closed due to swine flu - Kingaroy State High School,
Kenmore State High School and Jamboree Heights State School - reopened on Monday.
Eleven other schools remain closed.
Premier Anna Bligh said Queensland would move into the protect phase on Monday,
keeping its policy of school exclusions and school closures in place until Friday.
"Queensland will continue our containment provisions for another six days, which
means we will get to the school holidays, which gives us another fortnight where we
don't have children mixing with each other in infectious environments at schools,"
Ms Bligh said.
"(As part of the protect phase) we'll be working with the relevant health
authorities - whether they are in indigenous communities or major cities - to ensure
the appropriate precautions and treatment are available."
Across Australia health authorities are pulling back measures such as border nurses
and focusing on protecting those most at risk from the disease.
An Aboriginal artist from Western Australia is believed to be the first person with
swine flu to die in Australia, although it's unclear whether the virus or another
illness had killed the 26-year-old man.
There are fears the virus could be fatal for people in remote Aboriginal communities
who already have chronic health problems.
Queensland Health says the number of cases of swine flu in the state is now 340, up
from 303 on Sunday.