Family Life

10.26.09 | FL News Team

President Obama has signed a proclamation declaring a national emergency over the H1N1 virus. According to the White House, the proclamation issued on Friday, quote, "enhances the ability of our Nation's medical treatment facilities to handle a surge in H1N1 patients by allowing, as needed, the waiver of certain standard federal requirements on a case-by-case basis." The Aaministration says preparedness at all levels, including personal, business, and government, is the foundation to the national approach to the H1N1 flu virus. The proclamation, the White House says, helps that effort by advancing our overall response capability.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday H1N1 swine flu has become widespread in 46 U.S. states, a level comparable to the peak of ordinary flu seasons but far earlier and with more waves of infection expected. Seasonal flu normally peaks sometime between late November and early March. Swine flu has hit young adults and children the hardest, while seasonal flu normally is more dangerous for people over age 65. Since it emerged earlier this year, H1N1 has killed more than one-thousand Americans and put more than 20-thousand in the hospital in the U.S.