Australia raised its swine flu alert level Friday, after 10 new cases of the virus were confirmed in the country this week, AP reported. The upgrade from the «delay» to «contain» phase means extra measures will likely be put in place across the country to try and contain the spread of swine flu, Health Minister Nicola Roxon said. There are three more serious levels in the government's pandemic response plan. «We will continue border protection to stop people coming into Australia with swine flu,» Roxon told reporters in Melbourne. «This doesn't mean each and every state will be undertaking the same response. It provides us with flexibility for social distancing measures such as school closures.» Australia has confirmed 11 cases of the virus, 10 of those in the past few days. Roxon said she was concerned that two of the cases appeared in people who had not recently traveled overseas. One high school in Adelaide was shut down for a week after health authorities confirmed Thursday that a 15-year-old student had tested positive for the virus. Forty students were being treated with anti-viral drugs as a precaution. Swine flu has sickened more than 11,000 people in 41 countries and killed 85, according to the World Health Organization.
