Students for Steps Taken Against the Swine Flu Pandemic

Dear Mr. Mayor,

We are a group of concerned students in NYC, who wish to express their concern over the coming pandemic of the swine flu. We are sure you have a top-notch team of advisors that have better credentials than that, and that probably possess more knowledge and information. Nevertheless, we wish to make my voice heard, and if possible offer some suggestions (and give you an idea of what the average student demographic thinks). Our online petition with the signatures is:

We believe it is absolutely necessary to isolate those who are infected. Ideally, this would be done in three of the boroughs- one for Manhattan, one in Queens/Brooklyn, and one in the Bronx and part of upstate. All flu cases, whether swine, or not, should be transported there, with the strictest quarantine conditions- and all doctors who have had experience with outbreaks, or even better, epidemiologists, should be there on the clock, if not curing people, then at least making sure they don't infect everybody else.

The second part is also important, for all those who take the subway, and generally, commute around the city. We have had several bad experiences with the MTA, but the worst is that when a person sneezes, and sprays their mucus all over the place, or coughs without covering their mouth, or wipes their nose, and then holds on to the handrail. That has got to stop, or at least, be stemmed somehow. Whether by letting the public know that this is actually a BAD thing, or whether to have cops walk the cars, and remove those that display flu-like symtoms, but the easiest way to get infected is through the buses or subway. Another important thing is for those that have been infected is not to go to the family doctor- but straight to the hospital- and not in a relative's car, or a friend's car, or car service- but to call an ambulance.

The third part is the two airports. While it's obvious that they can not be shut down, although that would be ideal, the next best solution is to screen absolutely everyone who comes through. In or out. If that would take teams of doctors at every terminal, so be it, because the alternative is worse. An important note is this, that with all the flu epidemics- the Spanish flu of 1918, the flu epidemic of '56, and the swine flu epidemic of 1976, NYC was usually hit the hardest- because we've got the best conditions possible for an epidemic- and while we do have a great deal of healthcare facilities, the amount of deaths will still be staggering.

Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and while there have not been mistakes so far, it's still a good idea to be overly cautious, and not let this flu get out of hand. I firmly believe in your capability of handling this situation, and of doing the right thing, and I can only hope that we will beat this thing.