Swine flu death toll over 700

The WHO, whose previous death toll was 429 two weeks ago, also said it was up to national health authorities to decide what measures they impose to slow the spread of the new strain.

British researchers writing in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases said Monday that governments needed to draft plans for when and how to close schools if the swine flu pandemic worsens.

"School closure is one of the mitigation measures that could be considered by countries," WHO spokeswoman Alphaluck Bhatiasevi told a news briefing. "As WHO has been saying, different countries would be facing the pandemic at different levels at different times. So it is really up to countries to consider what mitigation measures suit them in regard to the situation in individual countries", Kazinform refers to The Arab News.

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