In less than a 24-hour period, the city has decided to close six public schools – five in Queens and one in Brooklyn – as the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, continues to spread, ending the lull that followed the reopening of St. Francis Preparatory and P.S 177 nearly two weeks ago.
Three schools were shuttered on May 15 – Bayside’s JHS 74Q, Flushing’s P.S. 107Q and I.S. 318K in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – following the closures of I.S. 238Q in Jamaica, P.S. 16Q in Corona and I.S. 5Q in Elmhurst a day earlier. All of the schools reported flu outbreaks and the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) said the schools will close for at least five days as cleaning crews begin sanitizing them.
“Despite the significant disruption this causes, the Health Department has recommended closing these schools to reduce the spread of influenza,” DOHMH Commissioner Thomas Frieden said, adding that the city is “taking action again today because there are unusually high and increasing levels of flu-like illnesses at these three public schools.”
The H1N1 virus has been confirmed in four I.S. 238 students and in an assistant principal at the school, Mitchell Weiner, who is reportedly on a ventilator at Flushing Hospital and in serious condition. Reports indicated that Weiner suffered from some pre-existing health problems including diabetes, which may have been compounded by the onset of the virus.
DOHMH noted that among the most recent wave of students to have been documented with flu-like symptoms, 26 are from JHS 74 Q, in Bayside; 49 are from P.S. 107Q in Flushing; and 53 are from I.S. 318K in Williamsburg.
Additionally, numerous complaints and, in some cases, hundreds of absences, were recorded at I.S. 238, P.S. 16 Q and I.S. 5Q due to flu-like symptoms on Thursday, May 14.
“As we have said from the outset of the appearance of H1N1 in our city last month, we will share with New Yorkers what we know and not speculate on what we don’t know” Bloomberg said, in announcing the closing of the first three Queens schools on the 14th.
City Councilmember Leroy Comrie, who represents the area that I.S. 238 is located in, said he was confident that DOHMH and the Department of Education were taking the necessary precautions by closing the schools, and he urged the administration to consider taking further actions to help parents and students.
"It is my hope that with the closing of these schools for the next five school days, the administration will consider extending library hours and funding the extension of hours at local after-school programs so that our children are not simply idling at home,” Comrie said in a statement. “Additionally, with the recent closing of two hospitals in the Southeast Queens community, I am hopeful that plans are being considered to address health needs in the event that an epidemic does happen.”
Although the symptoms of the H1N1 virus seem to resemble those of seasonal flu, H1N1 appears to spread more extensively, at least in schools, warranting closures to slow transmission in the community, according to DOHMH.
“School closures are a difficult decision, but our first priority is the health of our students,” Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said.
