Welcome to Skagit County
May 5th, 2009
H1N1 FLU UPDATE
Washington State has its
first confirmation of H1N1 flu. The CDC has confirmed 9 cases in Washington,
joining the other 38 states with confirmed cases. Seven of the cases are in
King County, one each in Snohomish County and Spokane County. Skagit County
still has one probable case waiting to be confirmed.
"We know the disease is here, which changes our approach to evaluation
and testing. It will now be focused only on people who are high-risk. We will
not recommend people be tested routinely," said Howard Leibrand, Skagit
County Public Health Officer.
Anti-viral medications, masks and additional supplies will be arriving from
the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) in the next couple of days. "We
are putting things in place to appropriately distribute these supplies."
said Peter Browning, Skagit County Public Health Director. "The anti-viral
medications will be available only when needed due to severe disease. The majority
of people do not need anti-viral medications," added Leibrand. The best
protection is to stay at home if you are ill, cover your sneezes and coughs,
throw the tissue away, and wash your hands frequently.
"This is an excellent opportunity for Public Health to practice the emergency
response plan we have put in place over the past several years," Browning
said. "We continue to do what we do every day to keep our community healthy.
It just happens to be visible to people now. Even after this subsides, we will
continue to do our job to protect our community from disease."
A call center has been set up at Skagit 911 to answer questions. The number
is 360-428-3272 or 360-419-3315 and it will operate from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The State Department of
Health now has a toll-free information line at 888-703-4364. For more information
go to www.skagitcounty.net.
Contact: Peter Browning
360-336-9380 x5396