My Thoughts - Is Swine Flu Really a National Emergency? What is a National Emergency?

I wanted to look at the very recent declarationaltogether due to skepticism.
of a national emergency by President Obama andAnother situation is the availability of vaccine.
see if it is truly justified in my opinion.There are massive shortages but is this truly an
The latest numbers (estimates) on novel H1N1emergency? Recent studies and polls show that a
since April when the virus emerged is slightlymajority of Americans have no plans of getting
more than 1000 deaths and 20,000the vaccine, a whopping 62%! One in three
hospitalizations. The Centers for Disease Controlparents has no plans to get their children
and Prevention (CDC) has said this flu hasvaccinated. Even the Obama girls have not been
become widespread in 46 of 50 states,vaccinated.
comparable to the seasonal flu.This is a mild strain albeit a very contagious strain
There is no evidence to date that this virus isof influenza, but a national emergency?
mutating and becoming more lethal.There are perhaps at least four aspects of an
As a comparison, the CDC's numbers (estimates)emergency condition. The first is its temporal
for seasonal flu deaths from the 1993-94 to thecharacter: an emergency is sudden, unforeseen,
2002-03 flu seasons is 36,171. It is also estimatedand of unknown duration. The second is its
that there are over 200,000 hospitalizations frompotential gravity: an emergency is dangerous and
the seasonal flu annually. Seasonal flu normallythreatening to life and well-being. The third, in
peaks sometime between late November andterms of governmental role and authority, is the
early March every season.matter of perception: who discerns this
Those are the CDC's numbers. With both virusesphenomenon? The Constitution may be guiding on
the people who have serious complications withthis question, but not always conclusive. Fourth,
either type of influenza have some kind ofthere is the element of response: by definition, an
underlying condition.emergency requires immediate action, but is, as
And there is some question about the H1N1well, unanticipated and, therefore, cannot always
numbers as a total. In late July, the CDC abruptlybe "dealt with according to rule."
advised states to stop testing for H1N1 flu, andSwine flu my loosely meet some of the above
stopped counting individual cases. The rationaleconditions, but as the third aspect questions, who
given for the CDC guidance to forego testing anddiscerns this? Should anyone call this illness a
tracking individual cases was: why wastenational emergency based on some questionable
resources testing for H1N1 flu when thenumbers as pointed out above?
government has already confirmed there's anWhen the President issues a "national emergency"
epidemic?on something, it typically comes under the National
CBS News did some investigative reporting theEmergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601-1651). It is not
past three months and found that actual swine fluclear based on reports that this is the case.
testing of samples submitted to the state labs (upThe National Emergencies Act was passed in
to late July) was overwhelmingly negative and1976. It has been extended six times. In 2007,
that the amount of H1N1 may be overestimated.the declaration was strengthened with the
In the State of Florida 8853 samples were testedissuance of National Security Presidential Directive
with only 17% actually being positive for H1N1. In51 (NSPD-51) which gave the president the
California, 13,704 samples were tested andauthority to do whatever he deems necessary in
merely 2% were positive for H1N1.a vaguely defined "catastrophic emergency".
With most cases diagnosed solely on symptomsThis shouldn't be taken lightly because according
and risk factors, the H1N1 flu epidemic may seemto the law, a "national emergency" can potentially
worse than it is.give the government some sweeping powers.
They also point out the Georgetown UniversityAccording to a Congressional Research Services
student situation where headlines read that 250(CRS) delegations or grants of power by the Act
student had H1N1. This cluster of infections wouldauthorize the President to meet the problems of
be a problem, however, the number of sickgoverning effectively in times of crisis. Under the
students came not from lab-confirmed tests butpowers delegated by such statutes, the President
from "estimates" made by counting "studentsmay seize property, organize and control the
who went to the Student Health Center with flumeans of production, seize commodities, assign
symptoms, students who called the H1N1 hotlinemilitary forces abroad, institute martial law, seize
or the Health Center's doctor-on-call, and studentsand control all transportation and communication,
who went to the hospital's emergency room.regulate the operation of private enterprise,
Another argument supporting that opinion that thisrestrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control
is an emergency is the potential of overwhelmingthe lives of United States citizens. Furthermore,
the health care system. Does this happen duringCongress may modify, rescind, or render dormant
any other flu season? No, because most peoplesuch delegated emergency authority.
stay home from work, rest and get over the fluI hardly believe that this relatively mild strain of
in a few days. And more importantly, we don'tinfluenza, where the numbers are questionable at
have the government and the media constantlybest and which it is fatal to approximately 1% of
letting us know about every death or illness whenthose who get infected(based on CDC numbers)
they happen, as they happen. Because of thismakes for a national emergency.
coverage, you have in my view two groups ofMany presidents have issued declarations of
people. Those that are scared to death over thisnational emergencies in the past for various
mild virus and those who choose to ignore itreasons, I only hope this declaration is benign.