Nine new cases of swine flu were confirmed yesterday, all in Gozo and among them a 79-year-old woman.

Seven patients were female, the youngest aged six, raising the total number of cases to 69, according to the Health Department. The majority are in Gozo.

None of the new cases was travel related, it added, meaning the H1N1 virus that causes the so-called swine flu was transmitted locally.

On the positive side, the number of people who have recovered since the first cases were recorded last week has risen to 14, as three more people came out of quarantine yesterday.

In line with a new approach to the illness announced on Wednesday, only vulnerable groups are being tested and those showing flu symptoms immediately prescribed the antiviral Tamiflu.

No tests were carried out on Wednesday evening but yesterday three patients, two men aged 27 and 55 and the 79-year-old woman, tested positive.

The Health Department again made an appeal for people who experience any flu symptoms to stay at home and call the family doctor.

Meanwhile, a patient at a hospital in southern England has become the first person in Britain without underlying health problems to die from swine flu, officials said yesterday.