New Delhi: Morning assembly meetings in
schools should be dispensed with under new guidelines being
issued by the Health Ministry soon to contain the spread of
swine flu which also make it mandatory for class teachers to
check each student for symptoms of the viral disease.
The guidelines is expected to be issued in a couple of
days, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told a group of senior
editors here today.
Morning assembly in schools where students come in
close contact could become a source for spread of the virus,
Azad said.
"It is also being made mandatory for each teacher to
go from seat to seat in the class to check for symptoms of
flu, identify the student and immediately sent him or her back
with the advice that they should stay at home for a week," he
said.
Spelling out the steps being taken by the government
to check spread of swine flu, he said a new vaccine is
expected to be developed in the next five to seven months for
which the World Health Organisation has given the seed from
Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control.
A new law was being readied to replace the century-old
Epedemic Act to include more pandemic diseases in its list to
effectively deal with such situations, he said.
Twenty-eight people have died due to swine flu in the
country so far while over 1,700 have tested positive.
The Minister said 24 more thermal scanners will be put
into operation at international airports in the country.
Azad said six private laboratories in Delhi to test
swine flu samples in addition to the existing three
facilities. In all, there are government-run 18 labs testing
swine flu samples in the country.
The Defence Ministry has also identified certain labs
for testing purposes and the Health Ministry was tying up with
it, he said.
The Task Force set up to explore response to swine flu
is expected to submit its report tomorrow, he said.
Amid apprehensions that people from swine flu-hit
cities like Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad are moving to rural
areas where the disease could spread, he said state
governments have been told to take necessary steps to deal
with the situation.
While the disease has been contained to a large
extent, there is "no magic wand" to stop it permanently, he
said adding the Health Ministry has gone "far beyond" what it
is expected to do.
He said people who have died of swine flu had either
received late treatment or were already suffering from a
chronic disease and hence have no immunity.
Bureau Report
