Officials Begin Tallying Costs Of Fighting H1N1

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The costs of fighting the H1N1 Influenza A virus are beginning to become apparent for state, county and Columbus health departments.

Officials at Columbus Public Health say their costs will not be available until early June. Spokesperson Jose Rodriguez says the department has more than 70 people working the crisis. Most are salaried employees making no overtime.

The Ohio Department of Health said it is spending $44,000 each day on the effort.

Franklin County Health Department reports spending $37,000 in almost two weeks, and that number does not include overtime, equipment and supplies.

They currently have 29 people assigned. Six are overtime exempt and five are being paid out of emergency preparedness dollars.  In comparison, they spend $45,000 in grant money from county commissioners during the annual flu season campaign, and less than $10,000 for West Nile Virus.

Spokesperson Mitzi Kline says the county must fund the fight against H1N1 Influenza A. “Running out of money is not an option,“ she said during a phone interview.

Looking at other counties, the county received expenditures from Delaware and Licking counties.

Through May 1, Delaware has spent more than $11,000, of which more than $4,500 in personnel costs were charged to the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, which is administered by the state using federal dollars.

Licking County Health Commissioner Joe Ebel says the only firm numbers he has is for the last week in April when they spent $8,000. Through today, Ebel estimates the total costs to be close to $20,000.

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