EPIDEMIC COMMISSION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14847, 26 February 1919, Page 5

EPIDEMIC COMMISSION.

THE AUCKLAND DEATH RATE.

i THE SECRET LANDISd AT ST , HELIER'S.

i (Per Press Association.) . AUCKLAND,, last night, I The Epidemic Commission /continued its sittings to-day, when- Mr Verium i Reed, M.P. lor Bay of; Inlands, f*aid that ho arrived, hu.uk. ■ \\\ hits electorate about November 12. estimated* that tli© disease had broken out a fortnight earlier. Ctoriuniinieaiftnh Wi th Auckland ceased when ■; matters were at •their )\vorst> and for a time it'was hot postsible to get assistance. He suggested that when an outbreak occurred m any other part of the- worfd aii Expert should 1 h<e. sent fwm here to investigate, so that 1 lie would obtain information first-hand. He Jttiih'cr suggested that there should 1 bfc a standing official organisation eet \ip by the Halth Department with power to control other departments m order to get their immediate co-operation. Representatives should be appointed m outlying districts and the Health Department should co-operate with .local i bodies such aa county councils, town | boards, and hospital boards-/ Mr O. T, Haynes> Chief Sanitary Inspector, said that the number of dieaths that .actually occurred m the city area (not nietropolitari area) was 603 from! October i 8 lo December 13, 1918. This 1 number included 40 who died at the hospital, the records for which were not sufficiently complete to decide whether they belonged to the city or not. Witness presented a chart showing the number of deaths per day as indicating the explosive nature of the outbreak. This showed that from October 18 to October 36 they were at^ the rate of one per day ; \fronf > October 26 to November 4 they ranged from three to seven per day. Then there was a big increase, and from November 4- to November 12 they ranged from 17 to 56 per day, the latter being the highest number for one day. From November 12 to November 18 they ranged from 43 to 18 per day. From that period they steadily decreased, again -and were back to normal. Within a week or ten days ending December 31 there was only one death. Of the total deaths 60 per cent were males, and 51 per cent of these were ! men between the ages of 25 and. 45. Mr Haynes said he did not know of any slum area m the city, as anything that by a stretch of the imagination could be called a "slum" had been removed years ago. |* Dr. Valintine, Chief Health -Officer for the Dominion, questioned' with reference to a statement that it was proposed to land the Makura passengers at St. j Helier's, said he received a telegram ■ from, the Minister for Public Health, m ; which it was suggested that! owing to j public feeling m Auckland it. might be I advisable to land passengers ot St. j Helier's and entrain them at Penrose. j He discussed the -matter with Dr. Frengi ley and the local inspector, and decidied j that it would bo "better to land them at the centra] wharf. JWhen he got to Motuihi the passengei-a asked if it was true they were to be landed' at »St. Helier's, to which he replied that it was not.