EDMONTON -- Two provincial party leaders scolded the Conservative government for failing to keep the public informed on the swine flu outbreak after media reports emerged that a northern Alberta woman who had the virus died.
NDP Leader Brian Mason and Liberal Leader David Swann both raised concerns that the Tory government had not been providing full details and up-to-date information about the H1N1 swine flu situation in the province.
The CBC reported that it was not clear whether the woman died as a result of swine flu or if she had underlying health conditions.
Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq's spokesman said they could not confirm reports of the woman's death, adding that Alberta health officials needed to be the ones releasing information on the health status of people in their province.
But when Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert was asked about the death yesterday afternoon, he said he did not have information about it.
"I've been really concerned because they seem to be fairly tight-lipped on it," said Mason.
"What you want to do in an epidemic or potential pandemic is to get as much information out as possible to people so that they can make the appropriate precautions. The worst thing you can do, in my opinion, is to keep information from people in a situation like this.
"And that seems to be what the government is doing."
Swann said he was concerned with the way the government was delivering a "confusing message," particularly to schools in Edmonton and Calgary, when reports surfaced that some students had contracted the flu virus.
"The government was not communicating with them and were not open about what was going on," Swann said.
"I hope the same thing doesn't happen in northern Alberta where this confusing message is going to the parents, teachers and the community.
"That just creates more anxiety and more distrust of the system. When people start doing their own thing without the proper information, they start making their own decisions about certain things and that's not necessarily the best way to handle it."
So far, 44 people have died from the flu in Mexico and two people in the U.S. There are 214 confirmed cases in Canada.
Alberta now has 33 cases with three more mild cases yesterday.
Saskatchewan recently recorded its first cases of H1N1 swine flu with a teenage girl and a woman in her 20s coming back from Mexico with the virus.
Neither required hospitalization.
The World Health Organization said yesterday that up to two billion people could be infected with the virus if the outbreak turns into a pandemic.
CLARA.HO@SUNMEDIA.CA
