Seven people in the Netherlands have died of swine flu over the past week, of whom five had other underlying health problems, the public health institute RIVM said in its weekly summary on Friday.

Last week, 273 people were admitted to hospital with confirmed H1N1, double the previous week’s total, the RIVM said. And 28% of them were placed in intensive care. In total, 611 people have been hospitalised since the epidemic began. Some 60% of hospital patients have other health problems as well as the flu virus.
Officials say the epidemic is still ‘light’. In total, 17 people have died.