Just tonight, it was announced by public officials that six probable cases of Swine flu in Washington State have been identified, three was in Seattle. The two were found in Snohomish County and the other one was found in Spokane County. It shall be confirmed in the next couple of days if the three individuals are indeed affected by Swine flu.

One of the Seattle cases include an 11-year-old boy who attends Madrona K-8.

The King County Executive, Ron Sims, has released the following statement just this evening:

Public health officials announced tonight that they have identified six probable cases of swine flu in Washington state: three in Seattle, two in Snohomish County and one in Spokane County. Confirmation is expected over the next couple days.

The Seattle cases include an 11-year-old boy who attends Madrona K-8. No doubt attendance will be a tad sparse at the school tomorrow.

King County Executive Ron Sims released the following statement this evening:

“We are now in the type of worldwide health situation that King County has spent years planning and preparing for. The probable cases of swine flu here in Washington serve as a reminder to all of us that we are a community of connected individuals, each with a role to play in keeping each other safe.

Our excellent public health doctors and staff, along with regional hospitals and health care providers are using the comprehensive pandemic flu plans we’ve created to respond and limit impacts and spread as much as possible.

The years of planning are just part of the solution though. We must each help limit potential flu impacts by washing our hands, covering our coughs, staying home when we’re sick, and making sure our families have the supplies they need if the situation gets worse.

King County is better prepared than many regions to deal with these flu cases and we will get through this medical challenge, together.”

Also, it was just announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) that it is changing its original alert of the rapidly spreading swine flu to a higher phase. This new level has been raised in the hopes that the appropriate agencies, communities and industries should now be taking action with increased urgency and vigilance.

At present, the level of pandemic alert has already increased to 5.

Tags: king 5, pandemic alert level, Ron Sims, Snohomish County swine flu, Spokane County swine flu, swine flu, swine flu cases, swine flu king county, swine flu map, swine flu seattle, swine flu suspected cases, swine flu symptoms, swine flu washington state, WHO on swine flu, World Health Organization

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.