The Lakeview Medical Center emergency room director in Rice Lake says more suspected cases of H1N1 have been coming through the doors over the last ten days.

"I'd say 50 to 60 percent of the patients we've seen coming through the urgent clinic have been with flu symptoms," says Registered Nurse Gerry Lisi.

Most of the patients that have been coming in to the emergency room or urgent care clinic haven't been too severe, with only two patients being hospitalized.

"The majority of cases we're seeing are middle aged adults and children," says Lisi. “We’re not seeing it hugely affect the elderly population, which I think is true for most of the country.”

While none of the cases he's seen have been confirmed as H1N1, Lisi says the clinic has actually stopped testing.

“We did a lot of testing at first but you have to send out the samples,” Lisi says. “And if they have flu-like symptoms right now, it's probably swine flu."

Schools across the state have been hit hard by suspected swine flu cases. In Greendale, near Milwaukee, an elementary school has shut down.

Closer to home in Barron County, 613 kids were reported absent from the seven school districts in the county.

“We had about 215 kids out yesterday and 253 students out today,” says Dr. Paul Vine, Rice Lake Area Schools Superintendent, which is about 10 percent of the student population.

So far, no schools in Barron County have had to close due to the flu. The Cameron School Superintendent says his schools have an absentee rate of 20 percent, but closure would only happen if it reached near 40 percent.

The Eau Claire Area School Superintendent says the district's absent rate is fluctuating, but the schools are not in danger of closing.

The Rice Lake Superintendent says the schools have a high rate of absences right now due to flu symptoms, but it will take more staff being out to close the schools.

"It basically hinges on how many staff are out sick as well. We need a safe number of staff to supervise students, and if we don't have that, it's the major factor.”

Health care workers say if you or your child has flu symptoms, it's always best to play it safe and stay home.