Britain Prepares For Pandemic Toll Of 650,000

You can prepare for a worst case scenario, but the UK sounds like it is preparing for an absolute slaughter :

Up to 650,000 people could die in England and Wales if there were a flu pandemic, according to a Home Office document that outlines plans for dealing with an outbreak, including measures for mass burials and refrigerated storage of bodies.

Ways of dealing with mass casualties are likely to be overwhelmed at the height of a pandemic, with up to 22% extra deaths at its height, the report warns.

The officials say that even under prudent projections there could be 320,000 deaths.

"Cemetery managers are likely to want to move to provision of common graves, which would allow interments to be undertaken more quickly." Coffin makers might have to limit the types and sizes of coffins to meet the demand.

The scale of the death toll from a flu pandemic never fails to stun.