Governors across the country continued to close schools, classes, and kindergartens to fight the spread of the virus H1N1, also known as swine flu. Yesterday, nine classrooms in five governorates were shuttered, in addition to a lecture hall at Suez Canal University in Ismailia. Fourteen school students, two kindergarten children, and one female university student were reported as having contracted the virus yesterday. Cairo Governor Abdel Azeem Wazir ordered the closure of Sara Taqieddin School, which is affiliated with el-Waili educational area. Five classrooms around Cairo Governorate were also closed because of the infection. "The decision to shut down the school came after four students tested positive for swine flu," said Medhat Saad, head of the Cairo Education Directorate. "The school had earlier reported a previous infection that prompted the closure of a class for 15 days." Saad told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the closures affected six classes in various schools of Cairo for 15 days. In Giza, Governor Sayid Abdel Aziz ordered a classroom closed after a student in the second prep was found to be infected with the virus. Abdel Aziz also asked that samples be taken from other students in contact with the infected student, as well as his family members and neighbors. In Helwan, Governor Hazem el-Quweidi ordered a classroom sealed for 15 days after a pupil in the fourth primary was proved to have contracted the H1N1 virus. The mother of the child refused to put her son in the Fever Hospital and certified in writing she would treat him at home as he suffers from other illnesses, according to Ashraf el-Sharqawi, the deputy head of the governor's office central department. Saeed Emara, first undersecretary of the Ministry of Education in Helwan Governorate said the school notified the directorate about the infection of the nine-year old student yesterday morning. The class where the infection appeared was immediately ordered closed. The school principal Mona Salah said the infected student had not come to school since last Thursday, adding the school administration advised his mother to conduct lab tests for him that proved positive. Meanwhile, the governor of Menoufiya ordered a classroom in the village of Banhai el-Bagur shut for 15 days after an infection was reported in a 15-year old female student. He also called for following up the condition of students at the school, as well as the case of the infected student who was held in Menouf Fever Hospital. In Gharbiya Governorate, the Education Directorate closed a classroom in Tanta for two weeks. The decision came after a student in the second prep tested positive for the virus. In Ismailia, the Health Directorate announced state of emergency at the Faculty of Medicine at Suez Canal University after a female student at the faculty was found to have developed H1N1. Six people in Egypt have died from the virus so far. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
