Florida health officials on Thursday reported a second death and 379 new cases of A/H1N1 flu for the past week, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 941.

The second death was that of a 30-year-old Seminole County woman, according to officials of the Florida Health Department.

A nine-year-old boy was the first victim of the A/H1N1 virus earlier this month.

"We will probably see more hospitalizations and perhaps more deaths," Scott McPherson, a pandemic expert with the department, said.

Nationwide, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported a total of 27,717 A/H1N1 cases.

Local officials disclosed that Florida is considering the use of school campuses as hospitals to fight the outbreak if it got worse.

"There is actually a state plan, in the case of a huge natural disaster, to turn certain schools in every district into mini clinics and mini hospitals if we have to," Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards' Association said.

He said school districts have already had pandemic plans in place and A/H1N1 flu vaccinations would also be administered once enough doses have been produced.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)