BOSTON -- State hospitals are ready to pivot and adapt to a wide-spread outbreak of H1N1 flu in Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick said Saturday, responding to an announcement by Pres. Barack Obama that H1N1 flu has been declared a national emergency.

Patrick called the national declaration a proactive move rather than a cause for alarm, saying that it will permit hospitals and other health care providers to cut through some federal health regulations in the event of a surge in flu cases.

“We are on top of this,” said Patrick at a press conference with public health officials. “We are looking after the people of the Commonwealth with all the resources and all the talent at our disposal.”

The national emergency declaration will allow hospitals to change how patients flow through emergency rooms, setup separate areas where they can screen people quickly and separate them from other patients who don’t have flu-like illness and administer treatment off-site at triage tents if emergency rooms are inundated. Some hospitals with bed restrictions will also be able to add temporary beds to their facilities in the event of a flu surge.

The state saw a drastic increase in flu cases this week, but Patrick said the jump has not been significant enough to put a real strain on the hospital system. He said public health officials have developed a dynamic plan to respond to the spread of H1N1 flu this fall.

“I have a lot of confidence in the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of this plan,” said Patrick.

The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.

Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the strain of flu known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.

Patrick said that despite an early delay, the state has received 300,000 doses of the flu vaccine and is working to distribute it throughout the state in accordance with national guidelines.

The government now hopes to have about 50 million doses of swine flu vaccine out by mid-November and 150 million in December. The flu virus has to be grown in chicken eggs, and the yield hasn't been as high as was initially hoped, officials have said.

"Many millions" of Americans have had swine flu so far, according to an estimate that CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden gave Friday. The government doesn't test everyone to confirm swine flu so it doesn't have an exact count. He also said there have been more than 20,000 hospitalizations.