We'll be live blogging the presidential press conference tonight, as Barack Obama marks his 100th day in office.Obama: We are closely monitoring the H1N1 Flu Virus throughout the US. Any schools where the virus is suspected should strongly consider closing, parents should make contingency plans. Asking for funding to put antivirals where they need to be to fight flu. If you are sick, stay home; if children are sick, keep home. Our government will do whatever it takes to fight the virus.
Questions:
Question: Is it time to close the border with Mexico, and will you consider quarantine:
Response: This is a cause for deep concern, not panic. How we respond, intelligently, systematically, based on science and what public health officials have to say...I'm consulting with public health officials. No recommendation to close borders...like closing the barn door after the horses are out. The most important thing right now is that we treat this the same way we would treat other flu outbreaks. We don't know how this new flu strain will respond. That's why I've asked for 1.5 billion dollars to make sure that everything is in place, in case a worst case scenario should play out.
We have 50 million courses of antivirals in case they're needed. We're coordinating closely with state officials. Federal officials are on the phone all day to coordinate, make sure there's timely reporting, so that we can track them, allocate resources.
The key now is to make sure that we're maintaining great vigilance, and that there's a proper response when cases come up.
Because this is a new strain, we have to be cautious.
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