NEW figures show more than 4,000 people in south Essex were diagnosed with swine flu in just five days – but only 70 per cent have had antiviral drugs collected on their behalf.

The figures, from NHS East of England, show in the five days following the launch of the National Pandemic Flu Service on July 23, 4,337 people in the south of the county were told they had the virus either online or over the phone.

However, only 3,117 of them got a friend to pick up prescriptions of the Tamiflu drug for them.

Andrea Atherton, director of public health at south-east Essex, said: “It is possible a number of people using the National Pandemic Flu Service are getting the reference numbers and then waiting to see whether symptoms develop further before collecting antivirals.

“The reporting procedure for getting the reference numbers is a lot faster than ascertaining how many antivirals have been collected, hence the figures could reflect this.”

There are two collection points for people living in Basildon and Thurrock – Craylands Clinic, in Basildon, and Grays Health Centre, in Thurrock.

People living in Rochford, Southend and Castle Point can go to a surgery in London Road, Leigh.

On Friday, the Health Protection Agency released figures which show the spread of swine flu is slowing down.

In its weekly report, the agency estimated there were 110,000 new cases of swine flu in England last week, up from 100,000 the week before, and 55,000 the week before that.

Figures for the East of England region show 67 people are currently in hospital being treated for the virus, four of whom are described as being in a critical condition.

The number of deaths in England from people with swine flu now stands at 26.