Prison staff face jail quarantine over flu

PRISON staff could face being quarantined in their workplaces if there is a serious outbreak of swine flu in the country’s jails.

This is one of several emergency situations currently being discussed by a high-level government committee tasked with drawing up contingency plans to cope with a swine flu pandemic among Ireland’s 4,000-plus inmates.

Health officials fear that, if the spread of the H1N1 virus accelerates at as fast a pace as it has in Britain, the country’s public services will face their greatest challenge in decades.