LONDON: Around 100,000 new cases of swine flu were diagnosed in England in the last week, officials said yesterday, as millions rushed to consult a new website to identify symptoms and order drugs.
At least 30 deaths have so far been linked to swine flu here, 26 in England and four in Scotland, according to the Department of Health.
A further 840 people are in hospital in England, including 63 in intensive care, chief medical officer Liam Donaldson said.
The concern felt by many over swine flu was reflected in what the government admitted was "unprecedented demand" for the new site, which was launched at 1400 GMT and was soon receiving 2,600 hits per second or 9.3 million an hour.
Donaldson accepted that the rise in new cases - almost double last week's figure of 55,000 - was a "substantial increase" but stressed the majority of patients suffer only mild symptoms.
He told the BBC many people were probably logging on to the site out of "curiosity", adding : "It will calm down and then people with genuine flu symptoms will be able to use the system and they will get their drugs quickly and efficiently."
Britain is the worst-hit country in Europe by the A(H1N1) virus, which was first identified in Mexico. It gave up attempts at containment early on and is now focusing on the best way to treat infected patients.
The new Internet and telephone service, which Prime Minister Gordon Brown has described as the first of its kind in the world, also allows prescription of drugs remotely.
Around 1,500 people are working on the telephone hotline, which can take over 200,000 calls per day.
According to figures released yesterday, 16 per cent of the deaths linked to the virus so far were in completely healthy people.
About 67pc of the deaths were in people with severe health problems such as leukaemia, 11pc with moderate conditions such as diabetes and 6pc in those with mild conditions such as high blood pressure.
Young people aged under 14 continue to be hit hardest by the virus. One third of the deaths so far have been among the under 15s.
l The Church of England yesterday urged bishops to stop sharing wine at communion services, because of the risk of spreading swine flu.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu have written to Anglican bishops to recommend they stop the congregation sipping from the same chalice until the pandemic is passed.
They suggest bishops dip the communion wafer into the wine and give that to followers as a hygienic alternative.
