The have been 14 confirmed institutional deaths in Tasmania due to flu this year, including the six elderly residents from a North-West nursing home.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The director of public health Dr Mark Veitch said there have now been 28 flu outbreaks in nursing homes, hospitals and other care facilities this flu season.
Of these, 16 have been confirmed as influenza, one as metapneumovirus and the rest are either unknown or have results pending.
No further details about the deaths could be confirmed when The Examiner sought comment from Public Health Tasmania.
RELATED STORIES:
The most recent fluTas report, released on Thursday, said during August hospital admissions in Tasmania due to influenza increased, however admissions directly to ICU were below the national average.
“There were 1228 notifications of laboratory-confirmed influenza during August 2017, an increase from 321 reported in July,” the report said.
“This is significantly higher than the five-year August average of 294 notifications.”
From 1 January to 31 August, there was a total of 1787 influenza notifications and during August the notification rates of influenza increased across all three regions in Tasmania.
During the fortnight ending September 1 the Influenza Complications Alert Network described the seasonal status as ‘intense mid-seasonal activity’.
On Tuesday Public Health said the Launceston General Hospital’s emergency department was dealing with an influx of people presenting with flu symptoms, most of whom do not need hospital care.
The rush coincided with national media coverage of six deaths of elderly people at the Strathdevon aged care facility in Latrobe last week.
There have been more than 132,000 cases of confirmed flu nationally this winter.
This figure broke the 2015 record of 100,000 cases.