Korea may raise flu alert to highest level

The Korean government is considering ratcheting up its alert level for Influenza A to the highest level amid growing public concerns that the virus could turn into a pandemic, government officials said Saturday, according to Yonhap News.

On July 21, Korea`s health authorities heightened the country`s alert level against the flu to its second-highest.

As of Oct. 30, the death toll in Korea from the new flu stood at 35, some two months after the first fatality was reported here in mid-August, with the number of confirmed cases reaching over 100,000, according to the country`s health authorities.

However, 99.97 percent of the confirmed cases were completely cured.

"The government is always open to raising our national disease alert status by one notch," a government official at the prime minister`s office said, adding it will exercise caution if and when it does so as preemptive actions could have a negative impact on the situation.

The government plans to hold a meeting of related ministries next Wednesday to come up with countermeasures to stem the spread of the flu.