California declares state of emergency

• Source: Xinhua
• [08:29 April 29 2009]
• Comments

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in response to the growing concern about the spread of swine flu, freeing up resources to combat the possible outbreak across the state.

The declaration comes two days after US health officials declared a public health emergency on Sunday related to the swine flu outbreak. There are 64 confirmed cases across the country as of Tuesday.

In issuing the statewide emergency declaration, which would "cut government red tape" and free up health resources, Schwarzenegger stressed that there was no need for general alarm.

Meanwhile, California on Tuesday became the first in the country with the ability to conduct its own swine flu testing without having to send samples to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

There were 11 confirmed cases in California as of Tuesday, including five in San Diego County, five in Imperial County and one in Sacramento County.

In Los Angeles, public health officials were investigating two recent deaths that are possibly related to swine flu, and would be the first reported deaths in the United States from the outbreak if confirmed.

A total of 64 swine flu cases have been confirmed in the United States, while in the neighboring Mexico, where the outbreak was first reported, more than 150 people were believed to have died from the disease and nearly 2,000 others have become ill.