Immigrant Daily

Napolitano on U.S. Government’s Response to H1N1 Flu Outbreak

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Napolitano is conducting daily briefing to calm the fears about H1N1 Flu outbreak and U.S. government’s response to it. Interestingly at yesterday’s briefing the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebilius accompanied her. During the briefing Napolitano said that she along with others is keeping the Senate Homeland Security Committee and U.S. House of Representatives abreast about the present situation on flu. She confirmed the death of a 23-months-old child because of H1N1 virus and sympathized with the family. She also confirmed that 10 states are grappling with the virus including Arizona, California, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, and Texas and it is just a matter of time for it to strike other states. The U.S. government has sent antiviral medications to supplement their stockpiles and states such as Indiana, New York, New York City already have their allocations.

The DHS is keeping a close eye on travelers at all entry points and affected persons are quarantined. While responding on closure of borders, Napolitano said, “the decision should be made on science and the epidemiology as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Public Health Community, and the World Health Organization (WHO), they all have said closing border is not merited and the focus should be on mitigating the impact of this virus.” Finally, she asked affected persons to consult doctor and stay home.

For complete information, please read Napolitano on U.S. Government’s Response to H1N1 Flu Outbreak