RIYADH: As the number of reported swine flu cases among Philippine international school students has reached 32, the Philippine Embassy here plans to meet community leaders to intensify its awareness program against the disease.
“We have been conducting awareness programs at the school level and we want to extend it to the community so that its members will be able to take necessary precaution against the disease,” said Romulo Victor Israel, charge d’affaires at the Philippine Embassy. The official said an awareness program was conducted at Al-Taj International School on June 26. He also commended the timely action taken by Future Generation International School, which closed for a week as a precautionary measure.
The school organized a mini-symposium for its students on Monday to tell them of the preventive measures to be taken against the swine flu virus, he added.
There are 13 Philippine schools in the capital, including the International Philippine School-Riyadh. There are nine such schools in Jeddah, one in Buraidah and three in the Eastern Province.
“We have instructed all these schools to keep a watch on the students who are arriving in the Kingdom after their vacations back home,” he said, adding that the mission has also instructed the schools to conduct their own awareness programs.
According to the Ministry of Health, 21 more new cases were identified throughout the Kingdom on Wednesday bringing the total to 253. The new patients were described as seven students, eight Saudis (six men and two women) and six foreigners, including three women.
The ministry did not name the schools where the seven affected students study. “Although we try to maintain maximum transparency, the affected schools do not want to mention their names due to commercial reasons,” it said.
