It’s not over. The heart-rending death of beloved Queens Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener and another wave of school closings have dashed hopes that the city has sidestepped swine flu.
At the same time, though, it’s been several weeks since the first cases were reported — and since World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan warned that “all of humanity . . . is under threat.” And still, most of humanity remains unaffected.
With each passing week, it becomes ever more clear that the virus is no killer disease from outer space — but simply a new kind of flu. And that a panicked response could be far more harmful than the disease itself.
Indeed, despite huge fears after hundreds became sick at St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows last month, Wiener was just the first person in the entire state to die after contracting the illness — and just the sixth in the whole country.
After all these weeks, the city’s Health Department reports just 178 confirmed cases of swine flu; most victims recovered quickly.
FLU FEAR MOVIN’ ON UP TO THE EAST SIDE
Meanwhile, city Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Frieden notes that about 1,000 New Yorkers die every year from flu.
So far, at least, swine flu in New York seems no more dangerous nor contagious than other strains of flu.
Not that it should be ignored or pooh-poohed. The virus, after all, is a brand new strain; its course remains unclear.
And there are warning signs — like a worrisome spike in cases in Japan.
“We can’t stop the virus from spreading,” Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. “Our goal is to minimize the threat to those most at risk.”
City officials closed five more schools yesterday after reports of students with flu-like symptoms. To date, 16 public and private schools have been shut, amid what Frieden calls “a rising tide of flu.”
Plus, there’s the personal trauma of any death, let alone one from a new, scary-sounding virus.
By all counts, Wiener was a stellar educator, admired by all who knew him.
“He was committed to the success of his students and was loved and respected by the school community,” Chancellor Joel Klein noted.
All that said, an overreaction — closing too many schools and other facilities, over-prescribing medication or just scaring the wits out of people and dragging down the economy further — remains the greater danger.
For sure, swine flu needs to be monitored closely. But at this point, there’s scant grounds for hysteria.
Calm and clear-headed thinking remain the best medicine.