The Kuwaiti Education Ministry confirmed that a teacher at a boys'' school in Jahra Area has been diagnosed with swine flu.
The Jahra High School''s Principal Hamid Khalaf told KUNA that the male teacher "has been absent since last Thursday and did not interact with any members of the staff and was infected during his absence."
He added the laboratory results were released Tuesday confirming the infection of the swine flu virus. The teacher personally called the school and reported his condition and that he was receiving care at home.
The principal added there was "no need for any measures to be taken at the school since the teacher was not present there while being infected."
Earlier, the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Moudi AlـHomoud said that "two of the three swine flu cases reported in private schools, have recovered fully and have gone back to their classes while the third is recovering steadily." In a press release, the minister emphasized the ministry''s keenness on following up the matter and to ensure that the students have fully recovered before allowing them to join their classmates in class.
She noted that the ministry had supplied public and private schools with one million booklets and instruction signs that explained the precautions that need to be taken to counter the disease. AlـHomoud added that "charts documenting full information about every student and their families have been prepared in order to help deal with any case that is reported," adding that a liaison officer from the ''quick intervention'' team has been assigned at each school, to facilitate contact between the school and the clinics in each residential area should an emergency arise.
The booklets include important regulations ordered by the World Health Organization to contain the disease and to prevent it from spreading. School staff and students are advised to clean and sanitize all table tops, door handles, light switches and even pens and pencils and maintain a distance between students. Teachers are also advised to hold the students in a single classroom for the duration of the day and to cancel all classes that involve more than one class working together.
"All field trips will be postponed, and students are not encouraged to use public transportation and school buses," she said. Furthermore, she said that "in cooperation with the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Education held more than 191 awareness workshops in different educational zones for teachers, in order to prepare them to deal with swine flu cases, should they arise."ـ