BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The fear of having the H1N1 Virus has sent a surge of people to emergency rooms across the country and in Bakersfield too.

Memorial Hospital has set up triage tents in the parking lot due to a surge of patients there the last few days.

The tents went up Wednesday morning and will be up until the surge of patients calm down.

The tents will help triage those who come in with flu like symptoms and they serve several purposes.

First, it keeps those that might have the very contagious H1N1 or Swine Flu Virus from interacting with other patients that do not have the virus.

Secondly, it is a way to quickly see patients that come in with flu like symptoms and send them on their way.

Memorial has seen about 100 patients complaining of the flu in the last five or six days and that was enough to put a strain on hospital resources and prompt the setting up of the tents.

"We've seen a very large surge in the number of patients presenting to the emergency department with cold and cough symptoms, along with the flu and that has overwhelmed the hospital's resources." said Dr. Kian Azimian of Memorial Hospital. "Therefore we've had to set up the tents ... to deal with the influx of patients that we have."

"Even though most patients probably don't need to come to an emergency department with flu like symptoms," said Memorial Hospital COO Bruce Peters, "we're prepared to treat those patients swiftly, appropriately, while not interrupting the flow of other patients going through our emergency department."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of people in the country with flu-like symptoms has been increasing and is higher than expected for this time of year.

The CDC says California and 36 other states have Widespread Influenza Activity at this time.