RIYADH: Nine more cases of swine flu have been reported in the Kingdom. This brings the total number of cases to 294 since May 29, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday. The new cases include seven Saudis, including six males, and a male and a female foreign worker.
“Blood samples of the new cases were tested and were positive for H1N1,” Dr. Khalid Al-Mirghalani told Arab News yesterday. So far, 215 of the cases have fully recovered and have resumed normal life, he added. “The others are in stable condition,” he noted.
Al-Mirghalani said that one of the two schools that was closed due to the outbreak of swine flu has re-opened under instructions from the ministry. The second school where there were more than 20 cases will resume its daily sessions by the beginning of next week, he added. He indicated that the ministry insisted on a seven- to fourteen-day recess in schools and workplaces where swine flu cases were diagnosed.
The spokesman also thanked all international schools for quickly responding to the call of the ministry to take precautionary measures against the virus. “Timely action by the school administration has helped cut down the number of cases,” he said. He said that the ministry would have a comprehensive program for the schools when they open after the summer holidays.
The official said that a national committee headed by Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah had been working round the clock to keep a close watch on the movement of the disease at global as well as national levels.
“We implement our national program in accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization spelt out for the prevention and treatment of swine flu,” Al-Mirghalani said.
