KATHMANDU: Alarmed by an increasing number of students and teachers catching common cold and high fever, a school in the heart of the capital remained shut on Tuesday. This

is the first time that the school in the Valley closed down as a preventive measure against the global outbreak of the Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1).

Fearing possible outbreak of Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1), otherwise known as ‘swine flu’, authorities decided to shut down the Mount Olives High School in Sinamangal, Kathmandu.

The school principal has urged the parents to send their kids to school on Sunday with masks. The decision came after a large number of students and teachers complained of ‘common cold’ and ‘high fever’.

Laba Kumar Shrestha, school principal, informed that they had issued a notice to this effect on Monday.

“The school will remain closed till Sunday. We hope that the situation will return to its normalcy by then,” he explained. School authorities fear that some students who returned home after the Dashain and Tihar vacation had common cold and they transmitted it to their peers in the classroom.

“We’re left with no option but to temporarily close the school as infection spread further,” Shrestha added.

There are 400 students enrolled in the school.

In a similar development earlier, schools were closed in Parbat and its neighbouring districts — Baglung and Myagdi — for an indefinite period. Government officials have confirmed that 21 persons including Nepali Army soldiers were tested with A (H1N1) in Baglung and Myagdi. Throat swabs taken from the

district were brought to Kathmandu for tests.

Meanwhile, Private

and Boarding Schools Organisation in Nepal (PABSON) said they were cautiously looking into swine flu scare in schools.

Meanwhile, Deputy Coordinator of Avian Influenza Control Project Dr Jitendra Man Shrestha has advised the authorities to shut down the schools for one to two weeks should more students showed up the symptoms.

Shrestha said if and when the number of absentee in a typical classroom exceeds 15 per cent due to high fever, sore throat and cough, it was wise enough to close the school temporarily until students are fully recovered.

“We will soon consult the UNICEF and PABSON on the fear of swine flu and adopt further preventive measures,” he added.