Britain reports 1 lakh new swine flu cases last week

An estimated 1 lakh new cases of swine flu have been recorded over the last week in England, the Department of Health today said.

Of those some 840 are in hospital, including 63 in intensive care, it said, giving the latest update of the virus.

Last week it estimated that 55,000 new cases had been reported in the previous week, adding that 29 people had died. There was no immediate update on the death toll, which has since reached at least 30.

Britain is the worst hit country in Europe by the virus, which was first identified in Mexico. It gave up attempts at containment early on and is now focusing on the best way to treat infected patients.

The update came as Britain launched a new swine flu hotline to give people who think they are infected access to anti-viral drugs, in a new effort to tackle the virus.