U.S. President Barack Obama waited until millions were infected and dead before declaring a public health emergency concerning the H1N1 swine flu.

A press release by the White House, the H1N1 influenza virus report by the CDC and video coverage by the Associated Press disproves the statement.

A press release by the White House, the H1N1 influenza virus report by the CDC and video coverage by the Associated Press disproves the statement.The Union Journal website had published an article claiming that U.S. President Barack Obama had waited until millions were infected and thousands were dead from swine flu (the H1N1 virus), before declaring a public health emergency in 2009.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a detailed timeline of the pandemic on its website. It shows that the CDC first activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on 22 April 2009. There had been only two confirmed cases in the United States at the time. The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared a public health emergency of international concern on 25 April 2009. The Obama administration did the same on the following day (26 April) and there were about 20 confirmed cases.

The video uploaded by Associated Press shows President Barack Obama addressing the nation about the H1N1 influenza virus in April 2009, when the disease was starting to spread.

The press release about the declaration of a national emergency concerning the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic by the White House on 24 October 2009 states that on 26 April the Secretary of Health and Human Services first declared a public health emergency under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act,42 U.S.C. 247d. It added that the Secretary had renewed that declaration twice, on 24 July 2009, and 1 October 2009.

Based on these sources, it is confirmed that President Obama had declared Swine Flu as an emergency in April 2009, when the disease had started to spread.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.