CAIRO: Alexandria Governor Adel Labib ordered the closure of all private schools in the governorate until Sept. 26 - when public schools and universities are scheduled to start classes. On Wednesday, Labib decreed the closure of Dar Al-Loghat private school after three of its students tested positive for H1N1. Last week, the governor also closed both the American and British International schools in Alexandria after a H1N1 case appeared in each school. In Egypt, private schools and universities usually start a couple of weeks earlier than their public counterparts. Nasr Al-Sayed, deputy minister of health, said that it is too early for the ministry to order the closure of all schools and universities, suspending classes this year. In a press statement, the ministry announced a four-step plan to deal with any swine flu cases in schools. The first step involves suspending the class where the case appeared for one week. The infected student will be treated at home under supervision. Moreover, if the number of infected students in a school reaches three, the school will be closed. Also, should cases appear in different schools located in same area, those schools will be closed and finally if the virus spreads rapidly among students in different schools, classes will be suspended. According to Al-Sayed, these conditions will require schools to close for a period of one to four weeks and all the students will be tested. Al-Sayed added that any student experiencing flu-like symptoms will be given time off until they fully recover. A committee formed by the health ministry to deal with the H1N1 crisis is meeting on a weekly basis to assess the situation, Al-Sayed said. On Thursday, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif also called for a meeting with Egypt's governors to discuss the situation. In related news, Hossam Kamal, president of Cairo University, said the university devised an alternative plan to deal with the eruption of H1N1. According to Kamal, the university will air lectures to students on its two educational channels Cairo University 1 and Cairo University 2 on Nile Sat. Moreover, the governorates of Gharbeya, Menufiya and Kafr El-Sheikh have been holding meetings since Wednesday to discuss the virus' spread in schools and universities. The Ministry of Health announced 17 new H1N1 cases on Thursday raising Egypt's total number of cases to 845. According to Amr Kandil, deputy minister of health for precautionary measures, all the new cases are Egyptians, one arriving from Saudi Arabia, one arriving from Abu Dhabi, and 13 cases related to previous cases. According to Kandil, the total number of recovered cases in Egypt increased to 758. The Cabinet Decision and Information Support Center announced on Wednesday that the percentage of recovered cases in Egypt is 89.2 percent.
