Number of cases double as virus spreads
03 July 2009
Staff absenteeism caused by flu-like symptoms is running at 66 per cent higher than average as the swine flu virus spreads, figures show.
Approximately one in 400 UK workers is currently off sick with a cough, cold or flu, while the norm for this time of year would be 1 in 630, according to data from absence management company FirstCare.
The trend has intensified in the past week and there is a “direct correlation” with the spread of the H1N1 strain of swine flu, said Aaron Ross, chief executive of FirstCare.
“Alarm bells should be ringing in employers’ offices across the country. It is no surprise that we are seeing such an increase, but we are concerned that employers are not taking the warning signs seriously enough,” said Ross.
The number of recorded cases of swine flu in Britain is now 7,500, jumping from 3,500 last week. There have also been three deaths from the virus.
“For one in 400 employees to be absent because of a cough, cold and flu in June is unprecedented, but much more worrying is the rapid increase we have seen in the past seven days. If this growth continues cough, cold and flu will causes one in 250 employees to be absent within two weeks but the truth is no one is really able to predict the growth accurately.”
This uncertainty about the speed of the spread was reflected yesterday when health secretary Andy Burnham suggested that 100,000 people could be being diagnosed with the virus every day by August. He later corrected himself by saying the projection was based on the number of cases doubling every week, and while “this is how the disease could develop, we just don’t know”.
The CIPD has urged employers to have contingency plans for widespread absences that could result from the swine flu spread. Their advice includes: stressing to employees that staff should stay at home at the first sign of symptoms; cancelling unnecessary travel, training and social events in favour of remote working; and having a communication strategy for keeping the workforce updated on a rapidly changing pandemic situation.