Mohd Ismail Merican




Liow Tiong Lai


Flu spreadsKUALA LUMPUR (June 23, 2009) : The Influenza A(H1N1) epidemic has worsened, with 10 new confirmed cases -- two of them locally-transmitted -- and two more schools closed yesterday.
The two schools are Seri Cempaka International School in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, and SRK Assunta 1 in Petaling Jaya. Seri Chempaka is closed until Saturday, and Assunta 1 until Monday.
This brings to four the number of schools closed because of local transmission of the deadly flu bug.
Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican told a daily news conference it might be necessary for schools to conduct internal screening, with the teachers encouraged to examine the students and pupils for fever.
A decision on the proposal and how to conduct the examination will be announced today after a meeting of a technical committee.
He said students who had visited countries such as the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States should undergo self-quarantine for seven days and keep away from school.
Other developments:
> The government has no plan to close all schools or ban public gathering in the Klang Valley although most of the A (H1N1) cases are reported in the area, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said. "Unless there is an obvious need for it, we don't want to raise unnecessary alarm among the people."
> Children in the three partially-closed schools may stay away from class without having to produce medical certificates (MCs), said Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom. Parents who feel their children are not well enough to attend school may inform the school authorities.
Alimuddin Mohd DomThe three schools, which each have a class closed, are SMK Damansara Utama, SMK Seksyen 9 in Shah Alam and SMK Wangsa Maju Seksyen 2 in Kuala Lumpur. The classes are closed until the end of this week.
Apart from the three tainted schools, parents who notice their children displaying symptoms of the flu can allow their children to stay home. This arrangement is only for the next one or two weeks.
> A total 200,000 frontliners will be involved in tackling the A (H1N1) pandemic under the National Influenza Preparedness Pandemic Plan 2006, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said in the Dewan Rakyat.
They comprised civil servants under the health and medical category, the police, Civil Defence Department, armed forces, Fire and Rescue Department and Immigration Department. In early May, they had been given 200,000 doses of flu vaccine.

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