Article: Federal authorities can close sporting events, theatres and more

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Federal authorities can close sporting events, theatres and more

Federal authorities can close sporting events, theatres and more

Gerard McManus and Michael Harvey

May 23, 2009 12:00am

SPORTING events, parades, horse races, markets, and theatres and cinemas can be closed down under special federal powers to stop swine flu spreading.

Schools, fetes, workplaces and public transport can also be cancelled as part of the management plan.

But health authorities were emphasising that any action would be "proportionate" to the health threat.

And federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said efforts were being concentrated in Victoria at this stage.

"If you are in Victoria, you'd be right in arguing we're already doing a number of things in a contain phase," she said.

Movement to the "contain" phase prompted the launch of a public health campaign last night.

Though Victoria has the most known cases of swine flu with seven, state health minister Daniel Andrews said the symptoms were "mild".

"No one that has tested positive so far is exhibiting symptoms that are any more severe than a normal winter flu," Mr Andrews said.

Since the swine flu appears restricted to isolated pockets in Victoria and South Australia, the federal powers are unlikely to be used at this stage. However, yesterday afternoon's official upgrade from "defend" to "containment" is an admission by authorities that Australia's first line of defence at airports had now been broken.

Australia's chief medical officer Professor Jim Bishop described the first known human-to-human transmission as a worry.

"We are concerned about those cases, so we want to jump on them and we want to make sure their contacts are given Tamiflu so that we contain that particular opportunity," he said.

According to official documents, the Government now has the power to start "social distancing".

A leading virologist said last night the Government should be doing more to inform people about how to stop the flu spreading, including using stronger quarantine measures.