Two army soldiers wearing protective clothing spray disinfectant in the southern flooded Linpien township yesterday. AFP

TAIPEI: "Premier" Liu Chao-shiuan issued a directive yesterday that the antiviral drug Tamiflu be more widely prescribed, as Taiwan steps up its A (H1N1) influenza prevention efforts.

"All patients who test positive for the A (H1N1) virus will be treated with Tamiflu, with the government footing the bill," Liu said.

In response to a steady rise in the number of swine flu infections and deaths in Taiwan, Liu said the government has decided to ease guidelines regarding payments for Tamiflu prescriptions. The prescriptions are to be covered under a special government budget.

He said although there are acute shortages worldwide of antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza, the Department of Health will make every effort to procure the drugs and stock enough Tamiflu and Relenza to treat 30 percent of Taiwan's population - or at least 7 million people.

This will increase the stock from the current level, which is sufficient to treat 18 percent of the population, he noted.

He said if Taiwan relents in its epidemic prevention efforts, there could be an outbreak of swine flu in flood-affected areas in southern Taiwan and also in the military, as servicemen are engaged in post-typhoon relief work in disaster areas.

Liu suggested that servicemen and volunteers working in the disaster areas wear face masks at all times to guard against transmission of the A (H1N1) virus.

The disease has claimed five lives in Taiwan to date.

As of Monday, 105 residents of a village in Wandan township in the southernmost county of Pingtung had developed fevers, two weeks after Typhoon Morakot wreaked havoc with the worst flooding in Taiwan in half a century.

Thirty of the 105 residents were hospitalized but were preliminarily cleared of suspicion of A (H1N1) infection, county health authorities said.

"It is more likely that they have leptospirosis, one of the diseases that commonly surface in flood-affected areas," the local health officials said.

In related news, the Chang Jung Senior High School in Tainan city, southern Taiwan, announced Monday that three of its classes will be suspended until August 31, as two students have tested positive for A (H1N1) flu and three others are suspected of having contracted the disease.

It was the fourth school in Tainan city to report a cluster infection of swine flu.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 08/26/2009 page2)