By Ivan Pereira
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Sunday that Congress is going to provide support in the fight against the swine flu, just days after the World Health Organization declared the disease a global pandemic.
Schumer, joined by fellow New York Democat U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, said the federal government is set to allocate $350 million in the final supplemental appropriations bill, which will provide upgrades to state and local governments to fight the disease, known as the H1N1 virus.
As of Friday, 567 city residents have been hospitalized with the flu strain that first struck Queens and 16 New Yorkers have died from it, according to the city Department of Health.
“As new H1N1 cases continue to be reported across New York City, New York state and the nation, the time to act is now,” Schumer said in a statement. “This additional funding will provide communities the ability to gather resources in order to protect the public from the new influenza virus.”
The federal money will be used to hire and train health workers, purchase new equipment and give grants to labs to study the disease, according to Gillibrand. The senator said state budget cuts have forced city hospitals to treat hundreds of flu patients in clogged emergency rooms.
“This emergency funding is a needed shot in the arm for our state and local governments that are on the front lines in combating the H1N1 virus,” Gillibrand said in a statement.
Last Thursday,WHO officially declared the H1N1 virus a global pandemic.
In April and May, dozens of city public and private schools were closed after several students and faculty came down with flu-like symptoms. The first occurrence took place at St. Francis Prep High School, where more than 70 students had contracted the disease, but all made a full recovery.
Mitchell Wiener, an assistant principal from IS 238 in Hollis, became the first city resident to die from the flu following an outbreak at his school.
Queens hospitals, such as Jamaica Hospital, Queens Hospital Center and Elmhurst Hospital, experienced an overload of patients following the outbreak. Jamaica and Queens Hospital Center had to triage patients with flu-like symptoms in special units outside the facilities to cope with the higher demand.
Two pharmaceutical companies, Baxter International and Novartis AG, both announced Friday they are close to producing a vaccine for the virus.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
