Dear Parents,

We at St. Columba’s School are just as concerned as you are about the health and well-being of your children.

While, we have informed you (via  circular) about one of our students of class 4-D testing positive for the swine-flu (H1N1) virus, we at our end have taken all possible measures to limit the infection to the best of our ability. 

All students of class 4-D have been quarantined till the 24^th of July. The health authorities have contacted each of their families and to be on the safe side, have administered prophylactic treatment to the boys and their immediate contacts. The entire Middle School has been sanitized by the health authorities. 

We held an emergency meeting of the PTA Executive Committee on July 21^st. This panel was addressed by Dr. R. P. Vashist, Head, Health Authorities, NCT. He explained that while we all need to be careful there is absolutely no need for paranoia. The H1N1 virus is like the common influenza virus and in most cases is mild and self limiting. It has an incubation period of 5 days, though to be absolutely sure they prefer to watch for a maximum period of 10 days. He suggested that if any one develops symptoms like in common cold and cough, the best thing to do is to consult one’s doctor, a General Practitioner who will be in a better position than any lay person to decide whether it is a simple case of flu or it requires any further investigation. 

Dr. Vashist pointed out that the most vulnerable candidates are those who have recently travelled abroad (then too, a maximum watch-period of 10 days needs to be maintained).We at St. Columba’s have drawn up a complete inventory of boys who left the country during the summer break. Their health is being closely monitored. Fortunately it has been much longer than 10 days since school reopened, so we feel that most of them who joined back on time would be out of the danger zone by now. 

Also, Dr. Vashist clearly stated that swimming poses no threat to the students as far as this infection is concerned and that the school does not need to suspend its swimming classes.  

At school, we are doing everything humanly possible to take care of our children. This virus is a global phenomenon and while we can try to contain it there is no way to avoid it altogether. We look forward to your cooperation in spreading awareness and limiting panic.

Thank you !