Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

The Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency announced that it has activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Cranston at "level 2" in preparation for possible arrival of swine flu.

The level 2 designation, which went into effect at 10 a.m., means this is considered a "local emergency," a minor to moderate incident in which local resources are adequate and available.

The operations center will keep a staff member on duty 24 hours a day to monitor information from cities and towns and forward it to the Rhode Island Department of Health and any other appropriate state agencies, according to Steve Kass, spokesman for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.

"This allows us to literally be on top of anything going on in the state," Kass said.

There have been no cases of swine flu in Rhode Island, but 20 cases have been confirmed nationwide, including eight schoolchildren in New York.

The flu, apparently originating in Mexico, is of concern because it's a novel strain that could lead to a pandemic. It's too early to tell whether that will happen.

 Tags  flu pandemic swine flu

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