ID :
69559
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 18:57
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http://m.oananews.org//node/69559
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Cabinet orders interim closure of tutorial schools to contain A(H1N1)
BANGKOK, July 9 (TNA) – A Cabinet resolution Thursday ordered tutorial schools in Thailand to close for two weeks to prevent the spread of the Influenza A (H1N1) among students.
The prime minister told a press conference after Cabinet met on Thursday that tutorial schools are ordered to close from July 13-28.
“This measure is aimed to cut the cycle of the outbreak,” he said. “Most of the new infections are students,” he said.
The prime minister said computer game shop owners were asked to cooperate in the campaign to prevent the spread of the new flu by closing their shops during the same period.
The fatality rate of the new flu in Thailand was recorded at 0.4 per cent, not different from the ratio in other affected countries.
The spread of the new virus strain won’t affect the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting set for later this month in Thailand’s Andaman Sea resort of Phuket, he said.
Meanwhile, tutorial schools agreed to close for two weeks if the Public Health Ministry had statistics to show the spread of Influenza AH1N1) occurred in tutorial schools, according to the tutorial school association chairman, Anusorn Sivakul.
Mr. Anusorn said the Ministry of Public Health has neither provided information nor asked for cooperation on measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
The association chairman added that tutorial schools’ prevention measures for Influenza AH1N1) and sanitation protection have been done according to information received from the news media.
“We have been blamed by society (which is saying) that we’re the cause of more infections. We want the Public Health Ministry to study (acquiring the virus infection) on a case-by-case basis, clearly find a pattern of those infected with the virus and persons who have had contact with them in order to conclude it in the form of scientific data,” Mr. Anusorn said.
Members of the tutoring school association will further announce their decision on how to deal with the matter and forward it to the Ministries of Public Health and Education.
If tutorial schools are closed for two weeks, the direct impact will be on students, as mid-term exams and some exams for their university entrance are set to take place soon, according to Mr. Anusorn.
On Thursday, officials gave out hand sanitisers in Bangkok’s Rajchathewi district where around 20 tutorial schools were located.
The H1N1 flu pandemic in Thailand is currently in Phase 2, as the fatality rate is 0.4 per cent which is the same rate as in the US. The fatality rate between 0.1 and 0.5 per cent is categorised in the phase 2, said Kamnuan Ungchusak, spokesman for Department of Disease Control.
Meanwhile, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has bought one million doses of anti-virus vaccines from a foreign giant pharmaceutical company. The vaccine is expected to arrive in Thailand in November.
According the GPO director Vithit Attavejakul, mass vaccine production is underway in Thailand.
Silpakorn University as a producer is set to manufacture around 2.5 million doses of vaccines per month. (TNA)
The prime minister told a press conference after Cabinet met on Thursday that tutorial schools are ordered to close from July 13-28.
“This measure is aimed to cut the cycle of the outbreak,” he said. “Most of the new infections are students,” he said.
The prime minister said computer game shop owners were asked to cooperate in the campaign to prevent the spread of the new flu by closing their shops during the same period.
The fatality rate of the new flu in Thailand was recorded at 0.4 per cent, not different from the ratio in other affected countries.
The spread of the new virus strain won’t affect the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting set for later this month in Thailand’s Andaman Sea resort of Phuket, he said.
Meanwhile, tutorial schools agreed to close for two weeks if the Public Health Ministry had statistics to show the spread of Influenza AH1N1) occurred in tutorial schools, according to the tutorial school association chairman, Anusorn Sivakul.
Mr. Anusorn said the Ministry of Public Health has neither provided information nor asked for cooperation on measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
The association chairman added that tutorial schools’ prevention measures for Influenza AH1N1) and sanitation protection have been done according to information received from the news media.
“We have been blamed by society (which is saying) that we’re the cause of more infections. We want the Public Health Ministry to study (acquiring the virus infection) on a case-by-case basis, clearly find a pattern of those infected with the virus and persons who have had contact with them in order to conclude it in the form of scientific data,” Mr. Anusorn said.
Members of the tutoring school association will further announce their decision on how to deal with the matter and forward it to the Ministries of Public Health and Education.
If tutorial schools are closed for two weeks, the direct impact will be on students, as mid-term exams and some exams for their university entrance are set to take place soon, according to Mr. Anusorn.
On Thursday, officials gave out hand sanitisers in Bangkok’s Rajchathewi district where around 20 tutorial schools were located.
The H1N1 flu pandemic in Thailand is currently in Phase 2, as the fatality rate is 0.4 per cent which is the same rate as in the US. The fatality rate between 0.1 and 0.5 per cent is categorised in the phase 2, said Kamnuan Ungchusak, spokesman for Department of Disease Control.
Meanwhile, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has bought one million doses of anti-virus vaccines from a foreign giant pharmaceutical company. The vaccine is expected to arrive in Thailand in November.
According the GPO director Vithit Attavejakul, mass vaccine production is underway in Thailand.
Silpakorn University as a producer is set to manufacture around 2.5 million doses of vaccines per month. (TNA)
