CAIRO: The Ministers of Health and Education announced Monday that the academic year will resume as normal starting Oct. 3 and that classes will not be suspended because of the H1N1 flu pandemic. In a joint press conference conducted at the Ministry of Education, the two ministers said that H1N1 situation in schools will be examined on "a daily basis. "A daily meeting will take place between the ministry of health, education and higher education, said Health Minister Hatem Al-Gabaly. However, Al-Gabaly added that in case of the occurrence of one single case among school students, "all students in the class, where the infection occurred, will take two weeks' vacation and will all be tested. Al-Gabaly also commented on the most recent statement issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) advising governments to close schools if the percentage of infection among students reaches one percent of the total number of students. "The WHO is not calling on governments to cancel the school year, but to be alert, Al-Gabaly said, adding that "until now, the status of H1N1 flu in Egypt is mild and can be handled, but we have no idea how the situation will be like tomorrow or in the coming few hours, it can get worse or better. "So, we have to wait and see, he said. On the other hand, Education Minister Youssry Al-Gamal said that the ministry of education will follow up with all schools to monitor the absence rate among students, "to make sure that only the sick students are absent. Al-Gabaly also said that the health ministry will be very tough on school doctors if they fail to perform their jobs properly. "We will not accept excuses, the doctors should be present at schools all the time and the visiting doctors [hired by the ministry of health to make regular school visits to monitor the situation], must stick to their schedules, Al-Gabaly said. Al-Gabably also asked governors to overcome shortages in the number of school doctors available and follow in the footsteps of Alexandria governor Adel Labib, who enlisted the top senior medical students to do the school rounds. In an interview with Al-Ahram daily newspaper on Sunday, Al-Gabaly said that he expects the decision to cancel the Hajj pilgrimage trips this year to be announced soon. He expects a massive increase in the number of infections to occur during the Hajj, especially that it will take place in winter season (next December) when the flu virus is more active. Until print time, the Ministry of Health had reported 874 cases of swine flu in Egypt, with four new cases detected late Saturday, one of them had just returned from Umrah pilgrimage.
