“In keeping with the administration’s proactive approach” to swine flu, the White House has announced, President Obama on Saturday declared the disease “a national emergency.” It’s the second such declaration, with the first in late April. And in case you didn’t know what “proactive” meant before, now you do: “hysterical.”
Just nine weeks ago the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued its report with a “plausible scenario” of 30,000 to 90,000 deaths peaking in “mid-October.” It’s now late October and past time for a reality check.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer releases specific swine flu case or death numbers, so the agency merely said Friday it had killed more than 1,000 Americans and hospitalized over 20,000 in the almost 7 months since the outbreak began. The website flucount.org, basing its figures on media reports, lists about 1,100. The FluTracker website counts a much higher 2,800.
But even that largest figure is about the number of Americans the CDC estimates seasonal flu kills every 10 days during the season, specifically 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations annually.
Read the whole thing. In the end, despite the failure to deliver vaccine as promised, there will be fewer deaths than in prior years because of flu and Obama will declare victory.
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