SWINE FLU CONFIRMED IN RIKERS ISLAND! CAUSES INMATES TO MISS THEIR COURT APPEARANCES!

Swine flu fears led to another school closure and caused dozens of inmates from Rikers Island to miss court appearances Wednesday, officials said.

Correction Department staff kept the 68 inmates quarantined because someone from their housing unit had a confirmed case of the virus, correction officials said.

Twenty-six inmates from the complex have confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, up from 10 about a week ago.

The city decided to close Public School 161 in Manhattan after 33 of its 794 students came down with flu-like illness.

Forty-eight public schools and a handful of private and parochial schools have closed since the outbreak began.

The world's swine flu death toll reached 100 with a new fatality in Chicago. Four infected people have died in New York, including two deaths announced this week.

Mayor Bloomberg said the severely ill should seek medical attention but urged parents not to take their children to emergency rooms, where only one in 50 people actually test positive for swine flu.

He also said the city won't force scared parents to send healthy children to schools where students are sick.