Late Friday night, President Obama declared the H1N1 flu (or "swine flu") pandemic a national emergency.

“Given that the rapid increase in illness across the Nation may overburden health care resources and that the temporary waiver of certain standard federal requirements may be warranted in order to enable U.S. health care facilities to implement emergency operations plans, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in the United States constitutes a national emergency,” Obama wrote in the proclamation. (The Hill)

According to the Christian Science Monitor, this is the 33rd national emergency declared since 1976, and the nation has been under a national emergency since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Therefore, the public should not be alarmed but should monitor government communications (including state and local) for advisories that are likely to be forthcoming.

The declaration that Obama signed late Friday means Health and Human Services chief Kathleen Sebelius to bypass federal rules when opening alternative care sites, such as offsite hospital centers at schools or community centers, if needed.

Hospitals could modify patient rules – for example, requiring them to give less information during a hectic time – to quicken access to treatment, with government approval. (HuffPost)

As newspapers and television stations provided snippets of the national emergency declaration, official government websites (the White House, FEMA and CDC) made no mention of the declaration and did not provide a copy of the document. There appeared to be no effort by administration officials to speak directly to the public about the declaration. With so many people expressing skepticism about the administration's plans and intent, this seems a most inopportune time for officials to disappear under their desks.

Meanwhile, MSNBC posted a video about the emergency declaration that requires site visitors to first watch a 15 second advertisement. At one time, media outlets acknowledged a responsibility to provide the public with emergency information uninterrupted by commercials; but, once again, the public interest takes a back seat to profit.

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• emergency,
• President,
• declaration,
• H1N1,
• flu