# 3189
Tonight Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City held a press conference where he announced that three schools in the city would be closed for up to 1 week due to a high level of absenteeism among the students who are said to have flu-like symptoms.
Four students in one of the schools have tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus, and hundreds of students are reportedly out sick across these three schools.
We also learned tonight that the assistant principal of a Queens middle school is on a ventilator, and in critical condition, diagnosed with the H1N1 `swine flu’.
This report from the City Room column of the New York Times.
May 14, 2009, 5:48 pm
Queens Educator Critically Ill With Swine Flu; 3 Schools Closed
By Anemona Hartocollis AND Javier C. Hernandez
Updated, 6:12 p.m. |
In the first serious case of swine flu has been found in New York City, the assistant principal of a Queens middle school has been hospitalized and is on a ventilator, officials said Thursday. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has scheduled a news conference for around 6:15 p.m. to discuss the new outbreak.
The assistant principal, who works at Intermediate School 238, in the Hollis section of Queens, appears to have become critically ill and was said to be near death.
His illness raised the possibility that the virus may have mutated into a more severe form than has been seen yet in New York.
Three public schools in Queens — the middle school where the assistant principal worked, as well as schools, Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst and Public School 16 in Corona — are being closed, effective Friday, because of the outbreak, officials said. The three schools together enroll 4,475 students.
Although the possibility of a `mutation’ in the virus is mentioned in this article, that is a pretty big leap based on one patient in serious condition.
According to mayor Bloomberg, there were indications that this patient may have had a pre-existing condition that would have predisposed him to complications from influenza.
