UP, UST, FEU, UA&P defer opening; church flu guidelines out

MANILA, Philippines – Officials of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the University of the Philippines-Manila announced yesterday that the opening of classes set this Monday has been deferred to June 15 as a precautionary measure against A(H1N1).

Far Eastern University haspostponed class opening to June 17, also due to the virus alert.

The University of Asia and the Pacific said last night opening of classes has been moved from June 10 to June 22, and activities connected to the university graduation have likewise been postponed. Students are advised to call the Office of Student Affairs at tel 637-0912.

Dr. Ramon Arcadio, UP-Manila chancellor, said the class opening was moved to enable school officials and students to prepare measures against the virus.

Arcadio said UP-Manila is the health and science campus of the UP system and it should be a model against A(H1N1).

UST officials issued an advisory yesterday afternoon that the deferment of classes covered all levels from elementary to college.

“As a precautionary measure against Influenza A(H1N1) and in order to allow students, support staff, faculty members and administrators who arrived from travel abroad to go on voluntary quarantine, the University of Sto. Tomas defers the opening of classes for the academic year 2009-2010 to Monday, June 15, 2009. In view of this the first semester of this academic year will end on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009,” the advisory said.

“Late enrollment of students will be accommodated from June 15 to 20, 2009,” it added.

The school administration also instructed all students, support staff, faculty members and administrative officers who have arrived from foreign trips to submit their names and corresponding university ID numbers to the UST Health Service.

The UST Health Service could be contacted at tel. 731-4311 or text 0927-6771346.

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Emmanuel Angeles said the agency has no objection to the decision of the two universities.

He said that CHED will allow school administrators to defer class opening as long as they make adjustments by extending their academic calendar.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Manila ordered parish priests and the Catholic faithful to limit physical contact during Mass.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales ordered the priests belonging to the Archdiocese to observe the new instructions.

“In view of detected presence of the A(H1N1) virus in our country, Cardinal Rosales has ordered that for the meantime communion be received by the faithful only by the hand and that holding of hands during the ‘Our Father‘ not be done. This is to avoid further inadvertent spread of the virus,” the Archdiocese said in a text message to reporters. 

Another DLSU student infected

The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed yesterday four more cases of A(H1N1), including another student of De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila and a Filipino-American from the United States.

Secretary Francisco Duque III told a press conference that the 17-year-old male DLSU student had no history of travel.

“He (patient) manifested mild acute febrile respiratory symptoms on June 2 and consulted a doctor on June 3, heeding DLSU officials’ advise to its students when it suspended classes on Taft. He is presently confined in a health facility and recovering well,” he noted.

The patient is the third DLSU student to have contracted the virus. First to be reported was a 21-year-old female Japanese student, followed by a 20-year-old male Japanese student.

“The three DLSU students are responding well to their treatments and do not have fever anymore, including the latest case. Contact tracing is still in progress,” Duque added.

But the DOH could not yet determine how the third student had acquired the virus.

DOH chief epidemiologist Dr. Eric Tayag said the new patient could not recall coming in contact with the two Japanese students and that there was no foreign student in his classes.

The patient managed to attend his classes from May 24 to 29 so the DOH and the DLSU management are now trying to notify the concerned professors and his classmates.

Duque reiterated that only the DLSU-Taft is under the voluntary 10-day class suspension due to A(H1N1) infection. “No other school has approached the DOH with the same predicament and plan. We also have not confirmed any case involving other schools.”

The three other cases are a 29-year-old Filipino-American and two sisters aged nine and 12. They all came from the United States.

The Fil-Am patient arrived in the country last June 1 and soon developed cough and fever. The siblings, on the other hand, flew in last June 1 and were detected at the airport thermal scanner to have fever.

“All three are recovering from their illness in health facilities,” the health chief said.

This as Duque announced that only those who qualify as case under observation (CUO), or those who have symptoms and have been exposed to A(H1N1) infected persons and affected countries, “will be tested and will receive treatment for free.”

“With the heightened awareness of the public on the novel influenza virus, more people are getting anxious to get themselves tested. Government needs to implement a clear protocol that prioritizes the treatment and management of A(H1N1) cases, particularly people at high risk,” he added.

The DOH had listed these “high-risk” individuals as those who have flu-like symptoms and have traveled to affected countries and symptomatic individuals who were known close contacts of confirmed cases.

“For the general public, especially now that we are entering the rainy season and we expect flu cases to increase, we advise them to stay at home, take supportive treatment and plenty of bed rest if they have mild symptoms,” Duque maintained.

Those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and if pregnant or with low resistance are advised to see a doctor as soon as symptoms set in.

OFW in Saudi with flu doing well

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported that the first overseas Filipino worker to have been infected with A(H1N1) is now doing well at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili said that four other family members of the Filipina worker who traveled with her in various countries in Southeast Asia were also placed under quarantine.  

Manalili said Riyadh-based labor attaché Rustico de la Fuente identified the first OFW to be infected with A(H1N1) as Rowena Wahab, an oncology nurse at King Faisal Specialists Hospital and Research Center in Saudi Arabia.

De la Fuente reported that Wahab traveled with her family to different countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, and returned to Riyadh last May 29.

Wahab developed fever and other symptoms of A(H1N1) a day after arriving in Riyadh, De la Fuente reported.

Manalili said Wahab is now doing well but all her other family members were also placed under quarantine by the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Riyadh for observation.

She said health authorities in Riyadh are also tracing all those who had contact with the Wahab family to immediately stop possible spread of the virus in the Middle East region.

Meanwhile, the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) has asked one of its foreign consultants to go on leave for a few days, after the Malaysian information technology (IT) expert showed signs of fever.

“We wanted to make sure it was not the A(H1N1) virus,” Edmund Bernardo, senior vice president and head of branch banking, told The STAR.

The Malaysian consultant reportedly went to the Makati Medical Center where he was advised to rest at home and observe changes in his condition.

“There is still no evidence of the feared virus,” Bernardo added.

UCPB officials also asked the branch support unit occupying the third floor, where the consultant had worked, to monitor other employees for any symptoms of A(H1N1).

Bernardo said that it would not affect the bank’s operations. Aside from the fact that those asked to take a few days off were support staff, all banks are required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to put in place contingency measures in such cases.

“All contingency measures are in place,” Bernardo added.

The commercial bank is in the process of upgrading its infrastructure and software which required, among others, hiring foreign consultants.

UCPB is a government-sequestered commercial bank with a nationwide network of 178 branches. Total deposits were estimated at over P93.6 billion, and a loan portfolio of P32.4 billion. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Mayen Jaymalin, Ted Torres