BOSTON -- A 30-year-old Boston woman is the first person in the state to die from the H1N1 influenza.

The victim was sick for a number of days before she was hospitalized on June 10, according to the Boston Public Health Commission. Her name has not been released.

"Yesterday, a Boston resident in her 30s with a confirmed case of H1N1 influenza died after being hospitalized for a week," Barbara Ferrer, director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said.

Health officials said that they were investigating whether the victim was exposed to someone with H1N1.

"For reasons that are unclear, Boston is seeing a tremendous amount of H1N1 activity, but the reasons for that are not clear," Dr. Anita Barry, of the Boston Public Health Commission.

There have been more than 1,100 cases of H1N1 in the Bay State since the start of the outbreak. Eighty of the cases required hospitalization, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Many local schools continue to feel the brunt of the outbreak. Eight Boston schools and community centers remain closed. They include: the Carter Development Center, Louis Agassiz Elementary School, Charles Sumner Elementary School, Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School, William E. Russell Elementary School, Pope John Paul II Academy-Columbia Campus, William Blackstone Elementary School and the Blackstone Community Center.

"We expect that as the school year comes to an end across the commonwealth, we have issued guidance for schools as well as camps, where children are likely to be over the summer," said Dr. Lauren Smith, of state health department.

Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach reassured residents that there is more than enough anti-viral medications for patients with influenza.

"We do know that influenza, for some people, causes serious illness. We expect that other people will be ill because of H1N1," Auerbach said.

Last week, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6, which means that a global pandemic is under way.

NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com will have more information when it becomes available.