He was unhappy with the Department of Education for how long it took to provide information on school closings and in not explaining earlier what criteria was used. “Parents were agonizing on whether to send their kids to schools,” Vallone said. “The DOE agreed with us on that.”
The councilman is also concerned about the DOH’s refusal to release information on the victims. “I understand about privacy, but I can’t believe there was a cloak of privacy for all of them.”
Vallone added that to describe a victim as suffering from some unknown underlying condition is not helpful. “Everything is top-secret now. It smells like a cover-up. Why all the secrecy?” he asked.
The councilman claimed that to the DOH almost everything is an underlying condition, including obesity and called that, “an ongoing concern.”
Dr. Thomas Farley, DOH commissioner, did not address the lack of transparency charge, but said the cost to the city in fighting swine flu is $10 million, and it could go up to $100 million for added personnel, testing and cleaning schools.
Vallone said the city had not yet applied for federal reimbursement. “The federal government is responsible. There were deaths in Mexico and San Diego in March and no warnings were issued in the United States,” he said.
Students from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows vacationing in Mexico during spring break brought the illness back with them in April. It quickly spread through the school, then across the country and world, and was listed as a pandemic by the World Health Organization last week.
Vallone is concerned that this variety of the swine flu was considered mild and yet area hospitals were swamped with patients. He fears what could happen if the virus returns stronger in the fall. Many medical experts are expecting that to happen based on past flu epidemics.
City Comptroller Bill Thompson Jr. testified at the hearing that the city and state need to share healthcare information, identify problems and develop solutions to prepare for the future.
“First and foremost, what is needed most is leadership,” Thompson said. “The administration’s ill-considered initial approach to the appearance of H1N1[swine flu] in city schools was to keep schools open despite dozens of childen contracting the virus. By failing to share this information, the city denied parents an ability to make informed decisions.”
Although Farley said illness and emergency room visits for the flu have recently declined citywide, more than 709 residents have been hospitalized. A recent survey taken by his agency indicates Queens was hardest hit with 9.4 percent of residents suffering from swine flu, compared to the Bronx, the least hit, with 3.6 percent.
The telephone survey, conducted from May 21 to May 27, also showed children were twice as susceptible to the flu as adults 18 to 64. Those 65 and over had the lowest incidence. It is believed they may have developed some immunity from strains in the 1950s.
According to updated information released by the Health Department on Tuesday, 16 of the 23 who died from swine flu had underlying health conditions. The seven latest victims ranged in age from 25 to 64 and were hospitalized late last month.
Overall, Vallone believes the city did the best it could with an outbreak of a new virus not seen here before. But, the number of cases is misleading, he said, because most patients were not tested since the city could not handle the numbers and there were not enough test kits distributed to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
The DOH said in April it estimated 1,000 cases at St. Francis Prep alone. Farley testified last week that the results don’t tell how many New Yorkers had the flu. “But they suggest it has been widespread and mild in most affected people.”
On Tuesday, the DOH raised the number of confirmed cases to 1,032, adding that it estimated more than half a million New Yorkers may have contracted the virus since April.
People most at risk are those who suffer from asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, he said. The first fatality was Mitchell Wiener, 55, an assistant principal at I.S. 238 in Hollis.
Farley added that more than 60 schools were closed during the outbreak and the DOH would continue to monitor the virus since there is no way to predict what path it would take in the future.
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