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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, December 4, 2005

Businesses Believe Pandemic Flu a Threat but Few Prepared
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), December 4, 2005 - U.S. companies view an influenza pandemic as a real threat to the nation, but two-thirds believe they have inadequately planned to protect themselves in the event of an outbreak, according to a survey released today by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and The ERISA Industry Committee.

Conducted in the weeks after the federal government released the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, the survey of U.S. employers was presented at a roundtable discussion on business preparedness sponsored by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. The survey found that:

66 percent of respondents said their company had not adequately planned to protect itself from a pandemic flu outbreak, while 14 percent said they had adequately planned, and 20 percent were undecided.
58 percent said they are not confident their company is prepared to manage a pandemic flu outbreak, while 18 percent said they are confident they are prepared, and 24 percent were undecided.
73 percent said their company could use help understanding what it should do to plan for a pandemic flu outbreak, while 14 percent said they did not need help, and 13 percent were undecided.
39 percent believed there wasn't much a company could do to prepare itself for a pandemic flu outbreak, while 41 percent disagreed with that statement, and 20 percent were undecided.

"American businesses are beginning to recognize that a pandemic flu outbreak would present a clear and present danger to their employees, their operations and their bottom lines," said Tommy G. Thompson, the independent chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. "All segments of society have a role to play in making sure we are prepared to cope with a pandemic flu or any public health emergency, and that includes the business community."

"Major employers are concerned at the destructive potential of disasters and pandemics, and want to protect their workers," said Edwina Rogers, Vice President for Health Policy of The ERISA Industry Committee. "If the private sector experiences that kind of crisis without proper planning, there could be major implications for the U.S. economy."

While respondents to the survey believed their company is concerned and that a pandemic would be a threat to the nation as a whole, they were less certain that it would adversely affect their business:

57 percent of companies surveyed believe a pandemic flu presents a real threat to the United States, while 9 percent disagreed, and 34 percent were undecided.
43 percent said their company is very concerned about a pandemic flu outbreak, while 25 percent said they weren't very concerned, 31 percent were undecided.
40 percent said there is a high probability that a pandemic flu outbreak would adversely affect their business, while 17 percent said it would not, and 43 percent were undecided.

When asked about potential options for coping with pandemic flu, 60 percent agreed that allowing employees to telecommute would be one effective way to address an outbreak, 11 percent disagreed and 29 percent were undecided. Companies also were largely undecided on whether they would waive sick leave restrictions in order to encourage sick employees to stay at home. Sixty-three percent said they were undecided, 27 percent said they would waive the restrictions and 10 percent said they would not.

A pandemic influenza is a global outbreak of the flu that occurs when a new virus emerges for which there is little immunity among humans. In the 20th century, there were three pandemics: 1918 (500,000 deaths in the United States, and at least 50 million deaths worldwide), 1957 (70,000 deaths in the United States, and up to 2 million deaths worldwide), and 1968 (34,000 deaths in the United States, and 700,000 deaths worldwide).

SBA Hurricane Loans Reach $1 Billion
WASHINGTON, (PRNewswire), December 4, 2005 - A billion dollars in U.S. Small Business Administration disaster assistance loans have been approved for more than 14,200 residents and business owners in the Gulf Coast region to repair or rebuild properties damaged by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

"Loans are now being approved at an average rate of $32.5 million a day," said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. "SBA's disaster office is approving disaster loans as quickly as possible, while maintaining our responsibility to the taxpayer. We have delivered an unprecedented response to an unprecedented disaster, and despite the substantial hurdles facing both the SBA and the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Florida, we are matching the loan efforts made in response to previous disasters.

"Following the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, we approved a billion dollars in loans within 90 days," Barreto said. "In just 94 days, following the Gulf Coast hurricanes, we have reached a billion dollars in loan approvals despite receiving far more loan applications this time -- more than we've received for any other disaster in the history of the agency. We are working diligently to get funds into the hands of those who need it most, and increasing our response capacity and loan approvals at a steady rate."

Barreto noted that only three previous disasters in history led to more than $1 billion in SBA loans: the Northridge earthquake in 1994; the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the multiple hurricanes that struck Florida last year.

This year's catastrophic hurricanes left a disaster area the size of Great Britain. Nearly 250,000 people were displaced to locations in all 50 states; more than 200,000 homes were destroyed and another 45,000 are unlivable. Of the 190,000 small businesses in Louisiana, about 81,000 have been impacted.

"The SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance has grown from 880 staff before Katrina struck to more than 4,200 today," Barreto said. "More than two-thirds of SBA's 6,346 employees are working seven days a week to handle the demand for loans. We are committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure every person who needs and qualifies for help, gets it quickly."

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