Dr. Walker, Health Services Director, presented the staff report. He informed the Board that daily conferences are being held with Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the 13 Bay Area Health Departments. He said the five school closures in Contra Costa County (all elementary schools) were revised to seven days instead of fourteen, and that guidelines for school closures would continue to be evaluated. He said health authorities are cautiously optimistic because it appears at this time that the H1N1 virus is relatively mild, similar to the seasonal ‘flu.

Dr. Brunner, Public Health Director, said health officials will remain vigilant in learning everything possible about this new virus. He said the virus is known to be susceptible to the drug Tamiflu ™, of which the County’s allocation from the federal stockpile has already been distributed for use, with more available should it be needed. He said he is confident the County supply is adequate to fill prescriptions.

Kate Fowlie, Contra Costa County Health Services Department, said in addition to the websites, agencies are making use of new social media outlets including podcasts, Facebook ™ and Twitter™ with very positive results. She noted that www.cchealth.org is available in English and Spanish and is updated daily.