SUMMARY: President Obama’s declaration of a national emergency to deal with the "rapid increase in illness" from the H1N1 influenza virus allows the Health and Human Services Department "to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements" to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic.  Since the H1N1 flu pandemic began in April, millions of people in the United States have been infected, at least 20,000 have been hospitalized and more than 1,000 have died, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
STORY LINK: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/24/h1n1.obama/index.html