Referendum may be a health risk

ON July 16, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an updated briefing document in relation to the H1N1 virus infection (swine flu).

The document stated: “The 2009 influenza pandemic has spread internationally with unprecedented speed. In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks.”

In another document advising national authorities as to what precautions should be put in place to contain the spread of the virus, the WHO, under the heading Community Mitigation, stated: “Measures taken by communities, such as social distancing, are important to minimise disease transmission and to reduce or delay disease and death.”