School asked to shut temporarily
The Education Department has asked People’s High School, here, to shut down temporarily from tomorrow as two of its students were found to be infected with the H1NI virus.
However, it is not known for how many days the school has been asked to remain shut. The staff from the school too was unaware on the number of days the school will remain shut. While some said seven days, others said four.
When contacted, the headmistress of the school Maria Martins said she never got anything in writing. “Only when I have something in writing I will be able to comment for how many days the school will remain closed,” she said. However, an official of the Education Department indicated that the school will be closed for a week.
The acting nodal officer for swine flu Dr Jose de Sa said one case was confirmed on September 17 and another on September 23 and in between there were three suspected cases.
Dr de Sa said since transmission of the virus was found in the school they wrote to the Education Department asking them to take necessary action as per guidelines issued by the Centre.
He said the first case from the school had no travel history, but the parents had told them they had visitors from Pune and Mumbai at their home. The affected students have received treatment and are doing fine, he added.
It is learnt that the first case, a student of Std V, who had fever was sent home on September 10. He was later found to be positive for swine flu.
Soon after health officials visited the school and checked the attendance registers. They found some students had remained absent because of flu-like symptoms. These students were contacted and were checked. Some of them were given treatment.
After the second case was confirmed the matter became serious and the health authorities advised closure of the school since there was transmission.
[Source]
