By IANS,
New Delhi: With three doctors being quarantined after being tested positive for swine flu, the Delhi government Friday issued a set of guidelines to schools, colleges and institutions to check the spread of the disease.
Under the guidelines the institutions have been asked to keep a watchful eye on any student or staff member with persistent symptoms of cough, cold and fever and to report such cases to local health officers for monitoring.
“The instructions of the Ministry of Health with regard to influenza A(H1N1) have been issued to the schools, colleges and institutions for managing cases of infection,” said Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia.
“All hospitals under the Delhi government will screen and counsel swine flu patients, but whether they are to be quarantined will depend on the doctor,” she said.
According to Walia, there are currently 31 swine flu patients in Delhi. Twenty of them are admitted to various hospitals across the capital while the remaining are quarantined at home.
Three doctors in the capital were found to have caught the infection. “Three doctors have tested positive for swine flu today (Friday),” Delhi Health Secretary J.P. Singh told IANS.
Meanwhile, a Class 6 student of the Sanskriti School who was suspected to be down with swine flu Thursday evening tested negative for the disease Friday after her samples were sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Anjali Bali, a teacher of the school, said: “On Thursday a student was suspected to have contracted swine flu. In the evening the child was said to have tested positive, therefore, the school decided to remain closed today as a precautionary measure.
“We had got in touch with students and parents immediately and told them about the school’s decision,” she added.
“However, after the student’s sample was tested negative at the NICD we are now re-opening on Monday,” Bali, a member of the school’s Parents-Teachers Association (PTA), told IANS.
Abha Sehgal, principal of the school, said that after the swine flu scare the school was immediately sanitised.
“We informed the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) about the suspected swine flu case and they took prompt action in sanitising the school,” Sehgal said.