Schools to close in bid to stop spread of flu

In Chiang Mai, the Prince Royal's College will be closed from today to July 21 after one of its students caught the disease.

"When the school reopens, we will require all students to wear face masks to class. Anyone who fails to do so will be sent home," the college's deputy director Yutthaya Damrongmanee said.

The school has about 6,000 students.

The Rajsima Witthayalai School in Nakhon Ratchasima will be closed from today until Friday.

"We will carry out a major clean-up during that time," the school's deputy director Nirun Uttamang said yesterday.

This school has more than 5,000 students and teachers.

Nirun said three students had caught swine flu after visiting department stores, cinemas and tutorial schools.

In Bangkok, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has decided to close all its 435 schools, 20 nurseries and 13 vocational-training centres from today to Sunday.

"We will carry out extensive cleaning-up operations at schools during their closure," Bangkok City Clerk Pongsak Semsant said.

Basic Education Commission secretary-general Khunying Kasama Varawarn said yesterday her agency was ready to comply with the Cabinet's decision if it decided to close all the nation's schools.

"But if the government is going to enforce a blanket closure for all schools, the government should ensure that there are also other measures in place," she said.

Kasama pointed out that if children hung out at gaming cafes or wandered around department stores, the virus would continue to spread.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said his administration would take pro-active measures to tackle the swine-flu outbreak.

"We will encourage people to wear face masks especially when they are in crowded places," he said.

Sukhumbhand said all district office directors were already instructed to warn people to take precautions when they went out.

"We have also asked cell-phone operators to send SMSs urging people to wear face masks and take good care of their health," he said.

Sukhumbhand said the BMA had decided to buy 2 million more face masks and they would be handed out at crowded places such as bus stops and Skytrain stations.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Witthaya went on TV last night to guide people on how best to guard against being infected by the type-A (H1N1) virus.