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Published - Nov 4th, 2009
By Stew Slater
SEAFORTH — A message on the website of the Avon Maitland District School Board states the board “will be taking every possible measure to avoid closing a school” as a result of an outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus.
The potential health threat also is currently afforded high profile on the website of the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, with prominent links to information from the Perth District Health Unit and Huron County Health Unit.
An open letter to parents was issued Oct. 29, in co-operation between both boards and the Health Units.
“We are aware of the increasing rates of illness in our community and we are continuing to work with the health units on how to minimize the spread of infection,” the letter states.
However, judging from the rest of the letter — as well as a report delivered to trustees last week by top Avon Maitland administrator Chuck Reid — actions in this region’s schools have so far been limited to monitoring the situation.
Speaking at a regular board meeting Oct. 27, the director of education said the first of what will now become regular reports — as requested by the two health units — was to be submitted Oct. 29. That report detailed the absence rates due to illness at the board’s schools, and highlighted when a particular school outstripped a predetermined 10 per cent absence threshold.
Reid was careful to note that not all absences due to illness can be blamed on H1N1 or even the seasonal variant of influenza. He also explained that, from one day to the next as a flu bug works its way into a school, absence rates can fluctuate considerably.
He agreed, however, that absenteeism can be a valuable tool in monitoring the H1N1 pandemic’s progress.
Included in the Oct. 29 report were the following details: on Oct. 23, there were five Avon Maitland elementary schools above the 10 per cent absence rate. Three days later, 15 elementary schools and five high schools met the threshold. However, just one day later, that number dipped to seven.
The Oct. 29 open letter added to this information: it stated that, on Oct. 28, 18 elementary schools and one secondary school — across both school boards — recorded at least 10 per cent of students absent due to illness.
“We will be reporting these numbers daily on the (Avon Maitland) board website at www.yourschools.ca,” the letter states.
Another message on the Avon Maitland website explains that a decision to close a school would come on the advice of a medical officer of health, and “would be made only in extreme situations where it would be effective in slowing the spread of infection (or) if a school facility was needed to assist the Health Units in providing medical or civil support services during a large scale outbreak.”
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