PEOPLE with swine flu symptoms have been told not to swamp the Maelor hospital.
Instead they should phone their GP or NHS direct.
As fears over the outbreak mount, Wrexham Maelor spokesman Andy Scotson said it did not matter what strain of flu people had, they should stay at home. Going to A&E just made the risk bigger.
Mr Scotson said: “There isn’t a cure and the only thing to do is to control the symptoms.
"We are getting people coming in all the time, but there is no reason to come to hospital if you think you have the flu.”
The hospital already has a number of patients with swine flu symptoms but Mr Scotson revealed that they were not even bothering to test for the virus.
The number of people in the Wrexham area worried about having swine flu has soared and official figures show that Wrexham is even higher than the North Wales figure which is also above the Welsh average.
But as fears over the outbreak mount, Wrexham Council says it has no plans to delay the re-opening of schools in September in an attempt to prevent the infection spreading.
Chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Tony Jewell, said: “We are seeing an increase in the number of cases in Wales as we would expect given the community spread in other parts of the UK.
“At the moment, the number of cases is still low in comparison to what we would see in a seasonal flu epidemic. We are monitoring the situation closely.
“The local NHS in Wales is developing patient contact arrangements through GPs, out-of-hours and call centres to support GPs who are getting an increase in swine flu-related calls.
- People who experience flu-like symptoms should stay at home and call the Swine Flu Information line on 0800 1 513 513 or use the website. www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk
- If the symptoms are causing concern, or people are in an at-risk group such as those with a chronic condition like heart or lung disease, children under five or pregnant women, they should phone NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 or phone their GP as they are a priority for early antiviral treatment.