The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (DepEd) have put up a new alert system for the cancellation of classes with the rising number of confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) virus in the country.

The influenza alert system was put up the same day Health Secretary Francisco Duque announced that there are already 16 confirmed H1N1 infections in the Philippines.

DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus said the critical alert signal starts at Level 3, which means there is a confirmed case in a school and a sudden increase in absenteeism due to flu. Classes in a school with a Level 3 alert have to be suspended.

The highest alert signal is Level 4, where there is more than one school with confirmed H1N1 infection within a community.

"This is when we suspend classes in schools within the community," Lapus said.

Duque said the alert system will help DepEd and the DOH "target the particular area where there is a confirmed case of H1N1." He said the alert system would avoid one-time nationwide suspension of classes due to the new influenza virus.

Lapus, for his part, said the alert system was put up to avoid "panic" calls for suspension of the opening of classes on June 1.

The health secretary said agency members of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), as well as officials from DepEd, Commission on Higher Education, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, have been informed about the influenza alert system.

Duque said that as interim chairman of the NDCC for the H1N1 virus, he will call for a follow-up meeting next Saturday to further discuss the alert system with all concerned agencies.

The DOH said Friday that two of the four additional H1N1 cases involve a two-year-old girl and a 20-year-old male, who both had contact with a Taiwanese mother and her daughter at a wedding in Zambales last May 17.

The Taiwanese mother and her daughter tested positive for H1N1 in Taiwan. Duque said that the Taiwanese mother did not get the virus in the Philippines.

Duque said on Friday that three of the 14 confirmed cases have already recovered from the infection.

Like most cases globally, Duque said the 14 cases in the Philippines are a "mild form of influenza."

Duque said that if the global consensus is that there is "no evidence of mutation" and that the virus is not virulent, then the DOH will be managing the virus as part of its "regular disease control program."

The health secretary said the rising number of H1N1 cases in the country should not be a cause for alarm.

He said that new influenza virus’ effects seem to be milder than the regular human influenza.

The health secretary added that the DOH has enough supply of Oseltamivir. He said they have one million capsules of Oseltamivir that can be administered to 100,000 H1N1 patients.