Swine flu prompts Egypt to close foreign schools
School terms delayed until Oct. 3 and classes to be smaller
Egypt has ordered foreign schools and universities to close until early next month and local schools to delay opening until then over worries about the spread of swine flu, a health ministry official said on Wednesday.
Egyptian universities and schools had been set to begin their academic year the last week of September, but foreign ones started earlier this month. The government decided to delay the school year until Oct. 3, the official said.
American University of Cairo vice president Brian MacDougall said the university was asked on Tuesday to delay classes, which the university began on Sept. 6.
An official at the French embassy confirmed that it has been told all French schools in the country must close until next month.
A Western diplomatic official said the decision affected American, British, French and Italian schools, as well as others.
A spokesman for the state-funded University of Cairo said classes in the university had been scheduled to start on Sept. 26.
He said that that the school week will be extended to six days after the courses start because the university will reduce class sizes as part of measures to protect against the spread of the disease.
School closures
A medical team will be present in every department, he said.
Two people have died of the disease in Egypt so far and 886 have been infected.
Egypt, the most populous Arab country with a population of 88 million, has taken several measures to curb swine flu, including killing the country's estimated 200,000 pigs after the disease surfaced in other countries.
It has also restricted visas for pilgrims going to Islamic holy sites to those between the ages of 25 and 65.
The World Health Organization said last week that school closures appear to be the most effective way of preventing the spread of the swine flu virus when implemented early in the outbreak.
While the U.N. health agency would not issue a definitive guidance on whether or not school closures should be implemented, it said the measure could cut health care demand by up to 50 percent at the peak of the pandemic.