The government has announced that there were 110,000 new cases of swine flu in England last week, and said that the number “may have plateaued”.
In Scotland, there were more than 4,000 new cases, according to the country’s health officials.
In previous weeks, officials had estimated there would be 100,000 new cases a week in England, so the latest data represent a 10% rise on those estimates.
So far, there have been 27 deaths linked to the virus in England, and 793 patients are receiving hospital treatment – a slight fall on the 840 of last week.
Meanwhile, the figures for Scotland show a slight increase in the rate of GP consultations for flu-like symptoms over the past week. There are now 55 per 100,000 compared with last week’s 47.
About 10.6% of community samples tested positive for swine flu – similar to the figure of 10% last week.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon commented: “As would be expected, we are seeing rises in GP consultations for flu symptoms in some parts of Scotland – Grampian and Tayside in particular – while in other areas significantly fewer people are seeing their doctors.”
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