HEALTH Minister Christos Patsalides has not ruled out the closing of schools in September due to swine flu.
Speaking to Cyprus’ state broadcaster yesterday, he said that all contingencies were foreseeable, and that nothing should be ruled out.
He then added though that in other countries where schools had been closed due to the H1N1 virus, such as the UK, no significant improvement in decreasing infection rate had been noticed.
“No one can predict the course this virus will run,” he said.
His remarks were echoed by opposition DISY’s health representative Stella Kyriakidou.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, she said that the Health Ministry must inform the public clearly about the strategy they choose to follow on issues such as the closing of schools.
She said such an eventuality would cause a series of economic and social problems, especially for working parents. She mentioned that in some countries it has been decided schools will close only if large numbers of teachers become infected.
However, she reiterated that the World Health Organisation had indicated that the closing of schools was a potential measure that might have to be taken.
Both Kyriakidou and Patsalides emphasised that all measures advised by the WHO and national and European health organisations were being implemented, and that all decisions made were in consultation with these bodies.
Kyriakidou stressed that for DISY, it was important that the Health Ministry provided the public with a “coherent, coordinated, comprehensive and integrated strategic management of the pandemic” over the next few months.
She said that public awareness was enormously important to generate an atmosphere of security but also to ensure that the proper services and measures were being used.
She also called for a “clear strategy for vaccinations,” pointing out that there was still a lot of ambiguity about whether the vaccinations had been ordered, whether they are being delayed due to bureaucratic inefficiency, and whether the fact that Cyprus is such a small market will affect the orders.
Patsalides said that the plan for making the orders is on track and that the procedure would be finished by today.
When asked when the vaccine would be introduced, he replied “No one can answer that question.” He explained that first the vaccine must be tested in Greece, and that permission to go ahead must also be obtained from the WHO, before it can be made available in Cyprus.
“Our goal is to cover 50 per cent of the population,” he said.
According to Kyriakidou, DISY will meet with the Health Ministry on the July 30 to discuss the situation further.
