ERs Continue To See Rise In Swine Flu-Concerned Citizens

With the city's announcement yesterday that two more people died from swine flu, New Yorkers are still, naturally, worried about the swine flu. The NY Times visited Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where "The hospital created a flu clinic in an area that usually accommodates patients who have been admitted and are waiting for a bed. It was filled on Tuesday with people in masks being evaluated for flu." An average May 2008 day in the Maimonides ER would have about 263 patients—on Monday, there was 480. The hospital's ER chairman said, "The consensus among these physicians is that the influenza is mild but the patients are unusually scared."

The city has released few details about the recent deaths—autopsies must be performed—but has noted the victims are a "41-year-old woman from Queens and a 34-year-old man from Brooklyn who both died Friday," according to the Post. Additionally, "Neither of them had been hospitalized prior to their deaths and neither worked at a school." And, like the previous two fatal cases, the most recent victims also had other underlying medical conditions "that made them more vulnerable." Currently there are 330 confirmed cases of swine flu in the city,

The city has closed more schools, but there are only a total of 13 schools and programs that are closed, because other schools—after cleaning—have reopened. Still, parents sending their kids back to school were worried—one told the Times, "It’s good that they’re back because they were missing a lot of school days, but in a way it’s frightening. When I kissed them goodbye I thought, ‘Is it going to be O.K.? Is the school safe?'"