On H1N1 business continuity: 'stop snickering at common sense'

As the H1N1 swine flu virus is projected to present challenges to the global business community in terms of continuity and absentee-management, one New York assemblyman urges planners to pay more attention to common sense.

With the H1N1 swine flu pandemic beginning to make its presence more readily known in the northern hemisphere, business communities are beginning to plan for absentee-management. Recommendations have now centered on the cessation of internal and external meetings, and businesses are advised to conduct their affairs over the phone. While this may appear to be common sense for many, there are still some people who are not taking the threat seriously. Now a new report has been issued from New York's legislative group, the subcommittee on workplace safety, seeking to address the virus more firmly. "If we're going to address H1N1 and whatever other pandemics we may face in the future, we have to stop snickering at common-sense solutions," Assemblyman Rory Lancman, head of the subcommittee on workplace safety, told the New York Daily News. Office environments, schools, mass-transit management, and prisons are among the tight-quarter environments that may have to institute more clarity in planning for an outbreak. The H1N1 virus has killed more than 4,000 people worldwide, according to World Health Organization figures. With U.S. vaccination programs gearing up for an October introduction, the race is still on to protect the highest-risk American populations.