WHO warning

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a gathering of the 192 members of the UN General Assembly in New York that as long as the swine flu remains in its current state, the World Health Organization (WHO) isn't planning on raising the alert level from the current phase five to phase six.

"But the WHO continues to warn that a pandemic is possible," Ban said Monday in a joint teleconference with WHO Director-General Margaret Chan from Geneva.

"Let us remember that even if the WHO does declare phase six - a pandemic - that would be a statement about the geographic spread of the virus, not its severity," Ban said, reflecting the growing consensus that the H1N1 virus could be a mild flu virus.

"The bottom line is this: If and when the world faces a severe influenza pandemic, the UN system is ready," he said.

During the conference, Chan told senior UN officials that there are now 1,124 confirmed cases of H1N1 in 21 countries. In Mexico - the country hit hardest by the virus - 25 people have died.

"We don't know how long we have until we move to phase six," she said. "Six indicates we are in a pandemic. We are not there yet."

The WHO said it would be arranging a virtual conference of experts on Tuesday to look into the clinical aspects pertaining to the severity of the virus, Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security said.

"The severity of illness is one of the most important questions," Fukuda said.

Mexico mulls easing restrictions

Authorities in Mexico said the epidemic appeared to be levelling off. President Felipe Calderon said in an interview broadcast late on Sunday that his country had managed "to contain the epidemic."

"We are in a position to overcome" the virus, Calderon said. "We have been able to hold or at least reduce the rate of propagation of the virus to contain the epidemic," he said.

However, the WHO warned on Monday that it's too early to say how the nature of the virus may change over time, and has not ruled out that the disease may change for the worse. With the northern hemisphere coming out of flu season and the south about to start its winter, Fukuda said vigilance was needed.

"Surveillance really needs to be strong everywhere," he said.

Registration of H1N1 mandatory in Germany

Officials from the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control and prevention agency, confirmed two new cases of the H1N1 virus on the weekend, bringing the country's tally to eight.

On Sunday, Germany added H1N1 to its list of illnesses that doctors must report to health authorities if they suspect a patient to be infected. Others illnesses on the list include botulism, cholera, diphtheria and rabies.

The two new cases of swine flu in Germany brought the number of confirmed cases in the European Union to over 50. The EU's center for disease control in Stockholm said there had been 10 new confirmed cases reported in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Portugal, in addition to nine new suspected cases in Britain. Spain, with 40 cases, has the most in the EU.

Hundreds quarantined in China

Hundreds of guests have been quarantined in a Hong Kong hotel since the weekend, after the virus reached Asia. Health authorities quarantined over 300 hotel guests after a Mexican guest was found to have been infected.

Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported that a number of Germans, including a couple from Dresden, have been caught up in the ordeal and are being held in the Metropark Hotel Wanchai.

Kathrin and Chris Eingrueber had stopped over in Hong Kong on their way to Australia and New Zealand. "Health wise, we are okay," Kathrin Eingrueber told the newspaper, "but the mood here in the hotel is indescribably on edge."

"There is no terrace, no pool. Our 16-square-meter room is only ventilated by an air conditioner … you feel like you're in prison here," she said.

Responding to journalists' questions about such quarantine measures, the WHO's Fukuda said that such governmental moves could be acceptable in certain situations.

"Quarantine can be applied in specific situations and is quite reasonable," he said, avoiding direct comment on the situation in China.