Swine flu update!!

by Bri Roozen

As of fifteen minutes ago, the WHO (World Health Organization) just raised the pandemic level of swine flu.  The pandemic, which had previously been marked as a three on the scale of threat to four... out of six.  Since this morning alone, twenty new cases of the flu have been found around the United States, including the first infiltrating Chicago.  Cases have also been confirmed in both Spain and now London.  As the death toll in Mexico rises, with already over 2,000 in hospitals, nations are scrambling to put a defensive plan into action.  This certainly puts a damper on my parent's vacation plans, as their trip to Mexico flys out in a week and a half.  

One must wonder where we will be in two weeks time if this epidemic continues to spread at such a rapid rate, WHO has called the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern".  It certainly concerns me.  As Mexico toys with shutting down its public transportation systems, the World Bank is lending money to help fight the spread of the disease.  Nonetheless, it is traveling far faster than anyone expected, largely due to globalization.  There's a bad side to everything.