The Chilean government announced on Thursday new health measures to combat A/H1N1 influenza after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alert level to phase 6, the highest for a pandemic.

Chilean Health Minister Alvaro Erazo said that phase 6 has been implemented in the country before the WHO declaration so the government is not worried and it is aware that the measures are a good example of how a country should anticipate a situation like the one declared by the WHO.

The new measures include a sanitary emergency decree which will give the Health Ministry more power. The measures also call for the formation of an emergency committee to be coordinated by the Interior Ministry.

With this decree the authorities will be even able to determine the suspension of activities at school to reduce the infection among students and to suspend massive activities like music concerts or soccer matches.

Chilean government spokeswoman Carolina Toha said that the new measures also demand flexibility of administrative procedures like the transfer of resources if needed.

The Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the A/H1N1 flu cases will reach its highest level next week and it will remain stable at that level for two or three more weeks.

Chile reinforced the measures to combat the flu last week, when Erazo said that patients over five years old and with symptoms of a fever over 38 degrees centigrade, cough, muscle pain or headache could receive antiviral treatment without a lab test.

Also a team of epidemiologists will travel to Puerto Monto, southern Chile, where the country reported its first death case from the flu "to make a detailed analysis of what is going on in that city to see if some additional measures will be implemented," Erazo said.

As of June 8, the Health Ministry had reported 1,694 cases in the country, including three deaths form A/H1N1 flu.

According to the WHO, Chile is the fourth country in the world with the largest number of confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases, following the United States with 13,217, Mexico with 6,241 and Canada with 2,446 cases.

According to the WHO, Chile is the world's hardest hit nation by A/H1N1 flu in terms of the infection rate, with 0.0102 percent of its population being infected, followed by Canada with 0.0073 percent, Panama with 0.0066 percent and Australia with 0.0058 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2009)