The World Health Organisation yesterday declared a pandemic phase 6 - the highest phase - which means there is global spread of the virus, although it does not mean the disease itself is severe.
Otago and Southland Medical Officer of Health Dr Derek Bell said that for the past five or six weeks there had only been two international flights a week into Queenstown, but that number would soon jump to 15 a week.
"We are ramping up our services so that we can meet the demands of the increased number of flights, but we won't be doing anything different to what we have been doing for the past five or six weeks.
"We're just having to have more staff," he said.
Queenstown Airport manager Chris Reid said all passengers arriving at the international terminal filled out forms, which were checked by health officers.
"If there are any indications they need to take it further, they will take them aside."
While 11 people suspected of having swine flu in New Zealand were in isolation, there had been no confirmed cases of swine flu in Otago and Southland to date, Otago and Southland medical officer of health Dr Marion Poore said yesterday at a media conference.
Public health officials would be on higher alert, but the way they were responding to the situation would basically be the same.
Emphasis would continue to be on managing all suspected cases in the community and meeting all international flights to monitor passengers, as evidence suggested these strategies were effective.
More than 1400 Otago and Southland employers have been advised to plan for rather than panic over the pandemic.
Yesterday, Otago Southland Employers Association chief executive John Scandrett sent information to the association's 1460 members, two-thirds of them employers with 20 staff or fewer, advising them to consider how they might manage any disruption to the workplace.
Options to eliminate person-to-person infection included enabling people to work from home and offering customers self-service options.
He pointed out an influenza pandemic might not be covered by business interruption insurance and that would need to be checked.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said yesterday the pandemic could last up to two years and 30% of the population - about 1 million people - could be infected.
"Our message is: Don't be alarmed. New Zealand is going to carry on the way that we have and we will keep people fully informed of any changes that need to be made," Mr Ryall told Radio New Zealand.
He did not think New Zealand needed to change its response.
General practitioners are preparing to face the issue and have requested improved access to protective masks, gloves and gowns to enable them to treat patients arriving at their practices with swine flu.
Doctors have predicted major challenges in the early stage of the pandemic would be protecting health workers from the virus and educating the public about self-protection.
Although regional medical officers of health will have the power to close borders, restrict public gatherings, put patients in isolation and shut schools and workplaces, the Ministry of Health has said its response to the pandemic would depend on the local situation.
Where a person was suspected of suffering from non-seasonal influenza, they could be forced to provide bodily samples, and be detained under surveillance until doctors were satisfied that he or she was not contagious.
Detention could be up to a maximum of 28 days, and might only be more than 14 days if the medical officer of health considered the person was still contagious.
Flu facts
> Seasonal flu hits up to 20%, or about 760,000, of New Zealanders each year.
> On average, 2.7% of the population (156,000 people) will go to their GP because of flu each year.
> An estimated 95 people die each year in NZ.
> Eight new swine flu cases have been confirmed in NZ in the past 24 hours, five of them in Wellington.
> 35 confirmed cases in NZ.
> 74 countries have officially reported 28,774 cases of swine flu.
> 144 people have died.
> 1336 reported cases in Australia.
