Earlier this morning President Barack Obama appeared in a town hall-style meeting at the White House co-sponsored by Univision.
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis hosted the event and was joined by other officials to speak about the government’s efforts to control the H1N1 virus.
She was joined by Esther Olavarria, deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security; Dr. Felipe Lobelo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Tino Cuellar;, special assistant to the president for justice and regulatory policy. The town hall meeting was moderated by Univision anchor Edna Schmidt.
The President told the audience that while “the virus may not have been as virulent as we at first feared, we’re not out of the woods yet, and we still have to take precautions.”
The town hall was an effort to engage the Latino community and spread the word about the importance of “washing your hands, about covering your mouths, staying home if you’re sick, keeping children home from school if they’re sick.”
Obama noted that the H1N1 flu virus has hit Mexico harder than other countries and said that public health information must go “to every part of the broader American community.”
He said, “We’re all in this together. We’re one country, we’re one community. When one person gets sick, it has the potential of making us all sick.”
Obama said, “I’m very proud of this first White House town hall meeting conducted entirely in Spanish…except for my part,” prompting laughter from the audience. “I’m kind of messing up the whole thing.”
The H1N1 isnt a big deal im not worried