MANILA, Philippines—A slew of schools in Metro Manila and Laguna have suspended classes as the Department of Health announced the country’s first death linked to the swine flu virus.

Most of these schools have confirmed flu cases. Others have none.

So as not to cause panic among the public, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) urged school officials not to suspend classes for their entire school if they have a confirmed Influenza A(H1N1) case.

“We shouldn’t panic. If we panic, then everyone else will panic,” CHEd Chair Emmanuel Angeles said.

Angeles issued the call as the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, College of Nursing, and College of Rehabilitation Sciences; St. Scholastica’s College-Manila; and Adamson University suspended their classes to prevent the spread of the virus after they acknowledged swine flu cases.

UST’s College of Engineering decided to suspend its classes only for today because a student suspected of having the virus was still being tested.

High schools

At the high school level, La Salle Greenhills in San Juan, Don Bosco Technical College high school department in Mandaluyong, and Paref Southridge School in Alabang, Muntinlupa, also suspended classes after it was confirmed that each of them had a student who had the flu virus, according to Teresita Domalanta, director of the Department of Education-National Capital Region.

“These are private schools but I’ve told our superintendents to also monitor their situation. DepEd is now reviewing our response system because we can’t keep on suspending classes just because of one case,” Domalanta said.

Reedley

Reedley International School (RIS) in Libis, Quezon City, suspended its classes for 10 days beginning on Saturday after one of their students also tested positive for the virus.

On the school’s website, headmaster Jerome Castro said classes in all levels at Reedley would resume on June 30.

Castro said he learned on June 20 that one of the students tested positive for the virus, and that the student was recovering from the flu virus.

“We advise that all students of RIS stay at their respective homes and be monitored for Influenza A(H1N1) symptoms,” Castro said.

Sta. Rosa, Laguna

In Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the city government yesterday suspended classes in selected elementary and high schools for a week after 11 persons were found to be positive for the virus.

Nine of the cases were students from public and private schools, one was a balikbayan, and another was a resident of the city. They all tested positive for the virus last week.

“They are under treatment and are doing well now,” Sta. Rosa Mayor Arlene Nazareno said of the 11, who were already on their way to recovery.

Per cluster

She said suspension of classes was being done “per cluster” to “sanitize” the schools. The suspension in the first cluster began Monday in five elementary schools and two high schools.

When classes in the first cluster resume next week, seven schools will follow, and then another three schools in the third week, she said.

Classes in Southridge, an exclusive school for boys in Alabang, have been suspended for 10 days starting on Monday after one student was confirmed to have the virus.

In an advisory posted on its website, Daniel Rodrigo Reyes, the executive director of Southridge School said the student came to school on June 17 and had fever the following night.

On Saturday, the parents informed the school administrators that the student tested positive of the virus.

To stop the spread of the virus, classes in all levels, from prep to high school, were suspended and expected to resume on July 2.

Football player

Reyes said the school could not divulge any information about the student. (He did neither denied nor confirmed if the student was the 14-year-old football player who participated in the Asian Youth Games).

“We don’t want to reveal his identity in order to protect our student and his family,” he said.

The student remains confined at a hospital but has already been showing signs of recovery, Reyes said.

Apart from the suspension of classes, Reyes said Southridge School had conducted a general cleaning of the entire school.

Preschool

In Diliman, Quezon City, Child Development Center (CDC), a preschool based in the University of the Philippines, announced a 10-day suspension of classes as a preventive measure against the virus.

UP Vice Chancellor Betsy Enriquez, however, said there were no confirmed or suspected cases yet at the school.

Another UP Diliman student has tested positive for the flu virus as of Monday afternoon, bringing the total number of cases on the UP Diliman campus to three since last week.

General cleaning

St. Mary’s in Caloocan suspended classes from June 23-26 for general cleaning although it has no confirmed case yet.

However, some students have exhibited flu-like symptoms, according to Dr. Rachel So-Sayo, Caloocan health officer.

St. Paul College-Makati also suspended classes for 10 days although it has no confirmed case yet. School officials said they made the move as a precaution and to conduct a general cleaning.

St. Paul College-Makati only has preschool, grade school and high school unlike its counterparts in Manila and Quezon City.

Lenei Ilisan, information office staff, said that though the Department of Health had cleared the school of swine flu cases, the precautionary measure was imposed by the principal because a handful of students exhibited flu-like symptoms.

Angeles of the CHEd said that if a school had a confirmed case, then it should isolate that student, faculty member, or school employee, and not suspend all of their classes.

“Classes must continue and they should just isolate that student. They should not panic because that would be unfair to the other students. What if there is another case the following week, should we suspend classes again? That’s unfair,” Angeles said.