Returning students urged to stay home

Star: PUTRAJAYA: Students who travel back from the United States, Britain, Australia and the Philippines are required to practise self-quarantine for seven days.
Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said most imported cases reported in the country involved patients who returned from these countries.
“If they develop flu-like symptoms, they must seek treatment immediately. They have to behave,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
He said teachers might also be instructed to take students’ body temperature at school daily so that those who showed flu-like symptoms could be detected early.
“We will discuss this with the Education Ministry tomorrow and decide whether to implement it,” he said.
He said the ministry would also review the checking of health declaration forms filled by in-bound travellers.
“Currently, there have been complaints that such forms were not properly checked by our officers. We might change our approach to ensure that these health declarations are helpful for us to monitor the situation,” he said.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said 10 more cases of influenza A (H1N1) have been reported, two of which are local transmissions, while two more schools have been closed.
He said Seri Cempaka International School was closed after two cases of the disease were confirmed there.
SRK Assunta 1 was also closed yesterday.
Earlier this week, SJK (C) Jalan Davidson and SRK Assunta 2 were shut down.
On Monday, one class each was closed at SMK Damansara Utama, SMK Seksyen 9 Shah Alam and SMK Wangsa Maju Seksyen 2.
The total number of confirmed cases in the country stood at 68 yesterday.
“We now have nine cases of local transmissions. In the latest case involving the Seri Cempaka school, the student is a girl who just returned from Melbourne, and who then infected another student.
“We are monitoring the situation closely. At present, we can still control the infection because we have been able to trace the sources and all their contact persons,” Liow told reporters at the Parliament lobby here.
He reminded Malaysians going overseas to take precautions on matters of personal hygiene.
In Petaling Jaya, Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said parents with children in schools which had reported cases of influenza A (H1N1) could let them stay home for the rest of week if the children were feeling unwell.
He added that parents should inform the school but a medical certificate was not needed.
“This is specifically for students in schools which have reported cases of the influenza A (H1N1),” he told reporters after visiting SMK Daman-sara Utama yesterday.