Image via WikipediaLynda Hong, lynda@mediacorp.com.sg
05:55 AM Jun 16, 2009
WITH school reopening on June 29 after the month-long holidays, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has reminded students to stay away from school for seven days if they have travelled to affected areas such as Australia, the United States and Mexico.
This comes after two students - from Bedok North Secondary and Raffles Junior College - were found to have the H1N1 virus after they returned last week from a wedding ceremony in flu hotspot Melbourne.
Staff who have returned from the affected countries are also required to take a seven-day leave of absence.
Seven new cases of H1N1 were reported here yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 47, the Ministry of Health said. Five of the seven were children aged between four and 10 years old, of whom four are local and the other an Australian on a visit with her family.
Of the seven new cases, five had arrived from Melbourne, one from the US and one from the Philippines.
All except one of the 47 cases here were imported. Those who had come from Australia and the US accounted for 39 of these.
Bedok North Secondary, where a 16-year-old infected student had returned to on Wednesday, has sanitised all the classrooms and premises that the girl had been. She has been quarantined and those who had been in close contact with her have been advised to stay home for the next seven days. When school reopens, Bedok North Secondary will also ask parents to give their children’s travel history during the holidays.
Likewise for RJC - where the 17-year-old girl had returned to for remedial classes before she came down with a fever and was diagnosed with H1N1.
In accordance with MOE guidelines, students must also take their temperatures during the holidays. They should see a doctor immediately if they show any symptoms such as fever and stay away from school until they have fully recovered.
As for childcare centres, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports says it is closely monitoring the situation and will advise any new measures accordingly.
Most parents Channel NewsAsia spoke to say they are assured of the many safety measures put in place to deal with H1N1, such as quarantine and home stay requirements, daily temperature-taking and regular disinfecting of common premises.
“Schools should close only when it’s as serious as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars). But this poses another problem. Exams are coming up. What can be done?” asked one parent.
“From the statistics of what we are told, it doesn’t seem that deadly,” said another.
The Sars outbreak claimed 33 lives in Singapore in 2002 and 2003. No lives have been lost here to H1N1 nor in any other part of Asia.
The H1N1 virus, which was detected in Mexico in April, has infected almost 30,000 people in 76 countries. CHANNEL NEWSASIA
From TODAY, News – Tuesday, 16-Jun-2009; see the source article here.
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