Secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Sat Maharaj, is calling on all Hindu schools to close their doors for three weeks in light of the second wave of the swine flu virus.

Maharaj, who made the call after another Hindu school reported a case of the virus, insisted that lost class time could be made up, but if a child loses their life, you can never get it back.

Three Hindu schools, Tunapuna, Caroni and the Munroe Road Hindu Schools, have reported confirmed cases, and according to guidelines issued by the Ministries of Health and Education, the cases are not enough to suspend classes.

However, Maharaj is questioning the Education Ministry’s ability to effectively handle the spread of the virus considering that everyday more and more schools were reporting cases of the virus medically named, Influenza A/H1N1.

According to Maharaj, the Ministry should look at the approach taken by United States President, Barack Obama, for dealing with the virus and come out of denial.

Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency and gave his health chief, Kathleen Sebelius, the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed up the treatment process and protect non-infected patients and Maharaj believes that the Education Ministry should adopt the same method to avoid further spread.

The Express was also informed yesterday that operations at the Tacarigua Presbyterian Primary School and the Immigration Office in Sangre Grande were also affected by cases of the swine flu virus.

According to sources, one pupil at Tacarigua contracted Influenza A/ H1N1, while there are reports that there are two suspected cases and one confirmed case at the immigration office.

Attempts to contact a representative on the matter at the primary school proved futile after phone calls to the institution went unanswered. However, the Express understands that the immigration office was sprayed and returned to business as usual.

Parents of pupils attending Clarke Rochard Government Primary School took their children away after the parent of an ailing standard two pupil reported to the school that the child had tested positive for the seasonal flu virus, and not swine flu.

As a result, the parents of some 200 pupils exhibiting any symptoms of the flu were asked to take their children away.

The Munroe Road Hindu School, Cunupia, also closed its doors yesterday after one of its pupils visited the doctor, and was confirmed as having swine flu.

At least 11 schools have now reported confirmed cases of swine flu and several have closed.

Principal of Clarke Rochard school, Surujwatti Ali, called a meeting of the school’s Parent Teacher Association at a nearby recreation ground pavilion.

The school has 610 pupils with a staff of 37 and is located at the junction of Rochard and Clarke roads, Penal.

Three nurses advised parents about the symptoms of swine flu and the common flu.