HOUSTON, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The A/H1N1 flu death toll in the southeast U.S. State of Florida has reached 9, while confirmed and suspected cases rose to 1,781, according to the latest statistics released by the Florida health department on Friday.

    The department said that four more patients have died of the A/H1N1 virus in the past week, almost doubling the previous record of five, and 479 new cases have been reported, increasing 37 percent from the previous total of 1,302 released a week ago.

    The Miami-Dade County is the hardest-hit, with five deaths as well as 631 confirmed and probable cases of the A/H1N1 flu virus, more than one-third of the total numbers in the state.

    Nationwide, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported combined 37,246 confirmed and probable cases of A/H1N1 flu in all the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and U.S. territory Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, with 211 deaths in 24 states.

    Also on Friday, Florida’s surgeon general Viamonte Ros said that the state is preparing for massive A/H1N1 flu immunizations, starting with schoolchildren, as the federal administration urges states to prepare for the likelihood that the virus might worsen in the fall.

    "We're already meeting with local schools and day-care centers on how we would do this," she said.

    Local officials worried about the prospect of closing schools if the flu gets worse in the fall.

    School closures last spring created havoc for working parents without day care, until health officials reversed the policy and reopened schools even if they had the A/H1N1 flu cases.

    State health officials urge people to be prepared for the pandemic declared by World Health Organization last month.

    They disclosed that the federal government has allocated more than 20 million dollars in grants to help Florida prepare for the 2009 fall flu season.

Special Report:  World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu