Woman with swine flu still critical in Wellington

The tally of swine flu cases in New Zealand is expected to surge today as the Ministry of Health processes a backlog of test results.

Director of Public Health Mark Jacobs said there were 216 confirmed cases of the virus yesterday, unchanged from Friday.

There were 643 suspected cases, many of whom could become confirmed cases once the backlog of test results is entered into the ministry's tracking system today.

A woman described as morbidly obese and having respiratory problems, remains in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital as she battles the H1N1 virus.

She is being kept in isolation in the hospital's intensive care unit and is one of three patients and two nurses at the hospital with swine flu.

Most of the confirmed cases were in the three main cities.

On Friday, Health Minister Tony Ryall announced a switch in policy to control community-level spread. Previously, the strategy had been one of containment.

"Our focus is now moving to helping those people in the community that have the illness.

The Ministry of Health also announced that people with swine flu would no longer routinely be given Tamiflu, with medical officers instead dosing only the seriously ill.

- NZPA