SCHOOLS BAN TOUCHING IN SWINE FLU FIGHT

Glen Cove District Students Urged To Have No Skin-On-Skin Contact With Swine Flu Outbreak Looming
Parents Told To Provide Kids With Tissues, Hand Sanitizer, Ibuprofen
As students across America prepare to head back to school, officials and parents are bracing for a spike in swine flu cases. With the possibility that nearly 2 million people will be hospitalized, and 90,000 people across the country could die, one Long Island school district is taking no chances and has set into place a new "hands-off" approach to fighting the swine flu.

Chest bumps. High fives. Hugs and handshakes. Glen Cove Middle School students Ali Slaughter and Hannah Seltzer say that's what friends do on the first day of school. But when students in the Nassau community return to school next week, the superintendent will be urging abstinence. Everyone from the tiniest tots to the biggest high school football players will be asked to limit skin-on-skin contact in an attempt to prevent the spread of swine flu when it re-emerges this fall.

"It will [be hard] because you really like your friends and you didn't get to see them," Seltzer tells CBS 2.

Glen Cove high schooler Erica Cohen is on the soccer team, but says she knows even in a game that involves close physical content, she'll have to be as careful as she can be.

"I don't really think it's such a big deal, if you wash your hands after -- I think it's just you really can't avoid it," she says.
Lorena Galo filled out her health form and decided she can't give up hugging. "We're still going to hug either way," she says.

The policy is unorthodox and could be difficult to enforce, but Nassau Health Commissioner Dr. Maria Torroella Carney says it's a good way to educate awareness.

"Many people are trying to think outside of the box, creatively, how to minimize spread of the illness, how to protect others, and I applaud that thinking," she says.

Glen Cove parent Leonard Imperial thinks no touching is an overreaction.

"Unfortunately people get sick with flu and die every year, but I don't think this one is any different or particular that we have to worry about," he says.

But Parent Angela Hamel is already urging her sons follow the new guidelines.

"The high fives, I think just to cut down on transmission, it's probably good idea," she says. "I think it's a good way to prevent."

And many other parents seem to agree.

"Less contact would mean less germs and less illnesses and I think it's a good recommendation," says Donna Sita.

While they fear the spread of swine flu, health officials say they are more concerned about the possibility of widespread anxiety or panic when school begins. Officials are asking families to have tissues, ibuprofen and hand sanitizers on hand for students. School superintendants are gathering Thursday on Long Island to discuss prevention and address other concerns

CBS 2's Dr. Holly Phillips is weighing in on the swine flu preparations in Nassau County. She says she think officials are doing the right thing in pushing H1N1 education, but she says there are many other ways to get the virus besides touching one another.

"Hysteria should be avoided, but it's good that the school district is emphasizing keeping kids safe. Not touching won't prevent transmission. The virus can live on surfaces and be transmitted via coughs and sneezes," she says.

So why is talk of the swine flu cropping up again, and when will it hit its peak?

"It never left, but like the seasonal flu, we're expecting it to pick up in October and hit its peak during the winter months when we're closed inside and the illness is more easily transmitted," Phillips says. "The Center for Disease Control is expecting between 30 and 50 percent of Americans will be affected by it."

As for the swine flu vaccine, Phillips says it should be out by mid-October, but at that time there will not be enough for everyone. She expects by the end of the year there will be 200 million doses available.

In the meantime, there are steps people can take to protect their families.

"Stay home if you're sick. Wash your hands," says Phillips. "Get to the doctor early with symptoms because anti-viral medications can shorten the course of the illness."

NYC to track its building inspectors with GPS

NEW YORK (AP) - New York City will track its hundreds of building inspectors with GPS technology to make sure they are actually doing the inspections they report, the Department of Buildings said Friday.

The new scrutiny comes after an inspector was charged last year with faking a report that he had inspected a crane days before it collapsed and killed seven people.

Electrical, construction, elevator, crane and other inspectors will now have GPS tracking on their mobile phones so that department heads can follow their movements in real time through a web-based program.
Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said the system will "ensure inspectors reach their assigned locations and are held accountable for their important work."

Last year city crane inspector Edward Marquette was indicted on criminal charges of tampering with public records. According to the indictment, he indicated on a Department of Buildings inspection sheet that he had inspected a construction site on East 51st Street on March 4, 2008, when in fact he had not.

The crane collapsed 11 days later. Officials said it was unlikely an inspection would have prevented the tragedy, but the incident sparked an agency-wide examination of its inspection processes.

The Manhattan district attorney also said Marquette also falsified inspection reports for cranes at other sites.

Marquette pleaded not guilty. The case is pending.

For years, other states and municipalities have tracked inspectors and employees using similar technology. Chicago follows its fire and buildings inspectors, and some state building and engineering inspectors in Massachusetts were suspended when they resisted the mandate a few years ago.

The union representing most of the New York City building department's inspectors said members were disappointed by the announcement Friday but did not threaten to oppose the monitoring system.

"It seems no matter how hard these guys try, management won't let them move past the transgressions of the past," said Joseph Corso, president of Local 211 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.

The New York City system will not only allow unit heads to track inspectors, but will also store the daily routes of inspectors in a database.

The city said GPS technology will also enable officials to identify the closest inspectors to assign to emergency incidents.

In the last fiscal year, buildings department inspectors logged more than 445,000 inspections.

The tracking will begin Monday with the first group of inspectors; all 379 will be monitored by the end of September, the city said.