CAIRO: The Ministry of Health said H1N1 patients are not going to be hospitalized unless they are younger than five years old, older than 65 years old, pregnant or suffering from health complications. Earlier this week, the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) had announced that H1N1 patients are going to be treated in their homes, while only certain cases will be hospitalized. According to the Ministry of Health's official spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin, patients treated at home will be asked to stay in isolation for seven days and will be provided with all the needed medication by the ministry. The ministry will also outline regulations the patient's family needs to follow to ensure that the virus doesn't spread. While the Ministry of Health said the virus is currently "mild, it warned of a surge in the number of infected cases. In related news, Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi sought Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa's expertise in minimizing the number of pilgrims in Mena, where they camp for three days during Hajj. Moreover, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif announced Monday that the government will not close down schools or postpone the start of the academic year scheduled for after Eid Al-Fitr in late September. However, he added that crowded classrooms that might help the spread of H1N1 are a government concern, especially because H1N1 is likely to infect children people under 25. By press time, Egypt reported over 700 cases of H1N1, 80 percent of which have recovered.
