Funds of £250,000 have been requested to enable a 50-bed unit to be set up somewhere like Fort Regent in the event of an outbreak of flu or any major emergency.

The Bailiff’s Council and Policy and Resources Committee have been addressed in the last week by Health and Social Services’ strategic development director Dr Duncan Nicholson and president Senator Stuart Syvret about the funding needed to keep abreast of the situation.

The committee were asked for their support for additional funding of £258,000 to double the Island’s current supply of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, which lessens flu symptoms.