Britain is "tantalisingly close" to beating swine flu, the chief medical officer said, as figures showed the death toll had risen by five over the past week to 75.
Unveiling plans to double the numbers of intensive care beds to cope with an expected surge in cases during the coming autumn and winter months, Liam Donaldson said the death toll for the current pandemic was relatively low.
"We are tantalisingly close to being able to win the battle against the pandemic virus.
"Tantalising does not mean we can always get there but we are still fighting," he added.
Figures out Thursday showed 504,332 courses of antivirals had been handed out in England, where 132 people are now in hospital with swine flu, of whom 23 are in intensive care.
