Teachers shocked: Half of schoolchildren absent from schools
74- 12.11.2009, 9:57
Minsk schools stay half empty after two-week quarantine.
As “Nasha Niva” newspaper reminds, school holidays started on October 25, children were to return to school on November 2.
On October 31, the Ministry of Health imposed quarantine in Minsk schools, so the holidays were extended till November 6. It was caused by the increased number of respiratory virus infection cases in Minsk, which “became apparent since November 2”, the city sanitary service reported.
The quarantine period was extended from November 6 to 11. On Wednesday morning, Minsk epidemiologists recommended the city executive committee that holidays should be prolonged.
The city center of hygiene and epidemiology prepared motivation of extension of holidays for some days. Specialists say prolonged holidays till November 11 allowed preventing 15,000 ARVI and flu cases among schoolchildren. The number of ARVI and flu cases among adults has grown 2.5 times for the recent period while the flu rate remains the same.
The ideologists decided that longer holidays would unsettle the schoolchildren. Moreover, the chief sanitary officer of Belarus states the epidemic peak has been overcome.
However, classrooms stay half empty on November 12 after the two-week quarantine. Many children are still ill and those, whose parents are very careful, stay at home.
