OXFORDSHIRE Primary Care Trust is right to be open about its preparations for swine flu and the need to keep it in perspective.

Dr Jonathan McWilliam, the county’s director of public health, says a rise in the high-profile disease is expected and that people may die, but it will be similar to previous seasonal flu outbreaks.

It is entirely responsible for the PCT to be fully prepared to tackle the worst case scenario.

That it has plans in place for admin staff to be drafted in to man anti-viral points for the distribution of Tamiflu if needed shows some of the level of thinking involved.

The important thing the public must remember is not to panic.

There were fears during the initial outbreak, in part caused by health officials’ refusal to trust the public with a lot of information they had a right to know. Think of the furore when locally the PCT tried to keep secret the name of the school the first child victim attended.

But the advice for people who fear they may have been infected subsequently appears to be right.

Phone the helpline, heed the advice, stay away from GPs’ surgeries if instructed and do not struggle into work. Doing what the health officials want will give them the greatest aid to ensure their plans do not go awry.