House back to work after closure due to A(H1N1)

(Updated 11 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives went back into work mode Monday after shutting down operations for nearly a week following the discovery that the first Influenza A(H1N1) fatality in the Philippines was an employee there. In a statement, Speaker Prospero Nograles assured that all three other confirmed cases in the House have recovered from the flu, and that no other new cases have been reported since Wednesday. Nograles added that all areas in the House have already been sanitized, and that most House employees have also been vaccinated against seasonal flu. Still, the House will be extra cautious by setting up thermal scanners in all entrances when it resumes operations today, he said. "It will be business as usual in the House except that we will be on strict lookout for people manifesting flu-like symptoms. Those with flu-like symptoms will be advised to go to our newly refurbished clinic for medical check-up," Nograles said. There will also be an executive meeting later in the day wherein officials will discuss the A(H1N1) situation's impact on the preparations for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's State of the Nation Address in late July. Nograles, however, maintained that there would be no need to postpone the SONA due to the flue scare. Last Tuesday, Nograles ordered the suspension of work at the House after it was confirmed that the 49-year-old woman with A(H1N1) who died last June 19 was an employee of the committee affairs department at the third floor of the Ramon V. Mitra building. The official cause of her death was "congestive heart failure secondary to acute myocardial infarction," as the woman had a pre-existing heart and liver disease. Health officials, however, said the flu could have exacerbated her condition. The death of the 49-year-old woman was announced by Health officials during the House committee on Health's hearing on the A(H1N1) situation in the country on Monday last week. However, they did not disclose that the fatality was an employee at the House as Department of Health standard operating procedures dictate that the identities of confirmed cases be kept confidential. House officials made the disclosure the following day. A few days after the confirmation of A(H1N1) cases in the House, the House leadership advised members of the House media - many of which covered the hearing at the first floor of the Mitra building - to closely monitor themselves for flu-like symptoms, as some may have been in contact with the confirmed cases. - GMANews.TV