The buzz is now on about whether schools will remain closed for an additional week after the June holidays end, in view of H1N1.

This morning, the Today paper reported that in all, three H1N1 clusters have been identified: At Riverlife Church, the National University of Singapore, and Butter Factory at One Fullerton. At the time of writing this, there are now 142 confirmed H1N1 cases in Singapore, including three unlinked cases who did not have any travel history of known contact with confirmed cases.

Based on the Today story, three of nine parents that the paper spoke to were in favour of extending the holidays by at least a week, while the others felt that the situation did not appear as urgent as during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) period in 2003. When schools closed for nearly three weeks in 2003, the Ministries of Health and Education had indicated that there were “no strong medical reasons” for doing so, but this was nevertheless put in place as a precaution, after taking parents’ feedback into consideration.

Going by that precedent, what are the chances that the authorities will order another closure, as a precautionary measure? What will be the ‘trigger point’ for such a step to take place? We have no way of knowing if more H1N1 clusters will be found in the next few days, but one thing that’s certain is that there will be a number of families returning from holidays abroad this week, whether from just across the causeway or further afield. Closing schools for a week to serve as a quarantine period for those recently on vacation may help somewhat, but the effectiveness of this measure would be limited unless we know for certain that such persons would ALSO make an effort to  stay away from public places and interacting with their friends and another family members during the same period.

I’ve got my doubts here – how many of us have the liberty of taking an extra 7 day’s ‘home leave’ after going on holiday? If anything, we might be scrabbling to catch up with what’s been happening in the office. So here’s the thing – no point for the kids to stay home if their parents are taking the bus and train, catching up with colleagues in the pantry and boardroom… or dropping by the mall to stock up on groceries or grab some hot GSS deals.

Yes, people – young and old - are still hitting the malls, the parks and the beaches – H1N1 or not. Reasons are aplenty – it may just be too hot (or too expensive to have YOUR aircon on all the time), or the deals are too good (yes, we’re back to the GSS ‘help our battered economy’ argument again). I think what would help a lot though is to put in place some civic-minded measures, especially if we’ve just returned from holiday.  It is one thing to catch H1N1, it is another to know that you’ve spread it to someone you know or love, when this could have been prevented.
Some things we could do:
- be contactable for tracing purposes
- keep abreast of H1N1 updates
- don’t plunge right into crowded places if we can help it. After ‘flapping our wings’ on holiday, why not enjoy some ‘home’ time.
- If our jobs don’t allow us to ‘quarantine at home’, which is probably the case, we can still minimize our colleagues’ exposure by keeping our return to office low-key. No need to share the holiday tales and pictures with everyone (at least for 7 days. there’s still Facebook and Twitter for these )
- If we must go out into public places, mask up –  more so if you unwell. It is too bad that people in masks are still inviting stares almost everywhere they go in Singapore, with many who think that someone who has a mask on must be very sick. Anyway, masks when worn properly can work both ways, keeping YOU safe as well as keeping others safe from whatever you’ve got. Even if you’re H1N1-free, better to face unwelcome stares that run the risk of catching a cold or regular flu from someone, which would really spoil your post-holiday high.

Ultimately, if schools do proceed with the extended closure, I won’t be too surprised. It is one thing to reason out the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of such a measure, but another to take the chance of widespread panic and speculation should H1N1 clusters be found in schools soon after term starts again on 29 June. I know my own schoolgoing kids would love it if their June holiday gets extended by a week, but speaking as a parent, my next worry would be how to make sure that week is well-spent. And that is something worth exploring in my next post…

What are your thoughts on the issue of school closure? Should this go ahead even though its not fail-safe measure? Would you keep your kids away from school if you know their classmates had just returned from a high-risk region?  What are other measures that you think schools should be doing?

Useful sites to monitor:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/schools/influenza-a-h1n1/media-statements-precautionary-measures/
http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/default.aspx

Comments (2)

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written by Alicia, June 22, 2009

I would rather the schools close so as not to take any chances..... but they should also call and sms all students to get records of whey they travelled.

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written by Yap, June 22, 2009

I think what's more important is for people to exercise their common sense (which is, sadly, rather uncommon). If you're not well, stay home, wear a mask, see a doctor.. this is no time for macho fever-ridden types who goes on with life, infecting everyone within range.

For schools, I think MOE may wait till a cluster develops and then shut everything down (as for SARS back then). We'll just have to see.

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