Shutting down schools will not be a standard measure to stop the spread of A(H1N1) influenza, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spokesman Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) said yesterday, adding that such an option would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
On Friday night, the government ordered that Guangfu Elementary School in Jhonghe (中和), Taipei County, be closed until next Friday after one of its students tested positive for swine flu.
The student is a five-year-old girl who attends a kindergarten that is affiliated with Guangfu Elementary School. The girl returned with her mother from Manila to Taiwan on Wednesday and went to class as usual on Thursday. Both mother and daughter tested positive for swine flu.
While in the Philippine capital, both participated in an international yoga workshop, which also had participants from swine-flu affected areas such as the US and Canada.
All of the elementary school's 1,650 faculty members and students should observe their health conditions during the week-long period, Shih said.
Meanwhile, the kindergarten's 119 teachers, staff and students should confine themselves to their homes and take flu medicine for 10 days, Shih said.
One of the girl's classmates was quarantined yesterday after he showed signs of fever on Friday night. Shih said, however, that the boy might not have been infected with A(H1N1) because he began exhibiting flu symptoms before his contact with the girl on Thursday.
“The chances of the boy being infected with A(H1N1) are small. But, to play it safe, we have quarantined him and tested him,” Shih said.
Because of the growing number of cases, Shih said the center had decided to give medication to those who had direct contact with confirmed A(H1N1) patients without first conducting tests.
Meanwhile, the Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday urged the public to remove their masks and take a walk outdoors to ease their minds and improve their health.
“Three treasures in the forest — pythoncidere, negative ions and fresh oxygen — help people develop natural antibodies, soothe their mind, eliminate insomnia, headaches and anxiety, prevent respiratory diseases, and improve circulation and immunity systems,” COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said at an activity yesterday to encourage people to visit any of the nation's 18 forest recreation areas or botanical gardens.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MEGGIE LU
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