WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is making what
administration officials are describing as a pre-emptive move
against the swine flu.
He's declaring the pandemic a national emergency, in an effort
to speed treatment to thousands of infected people. Administration
officials say the effort is designed to make decisions easier when
they need to be made.
The declaration authorizes Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius (seh-BEEL'-yuhs) to bypass federal rules when
opening offsite hospital centers.
And hospitals could change patient rules to allow them faster
access to treatment, with government approval.
Obama says the months-old outbreak which has killed more than
1,000 in the U.S. continues to evolve. And, with the rates of
illness rising rapidly, he says there's a potential to "overburden
health care resources."
Click on the video link for a report from CBS News reporter Kathryn Brown.
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