The 320 students of Ra’anana’s Dekel School will have a long weekend. The school was closed on erev Shabbos, a decision made by PTA officials who explain “we don’t want to take chances”. The decision followed a Health Ministry announced on Thursday that two students from the school are being placed in isolation with signs of swine flu. Baruch Hashem, late Friday morning, health officials reported one of the children, a 9-year-old, is not infected. A 26-year-old woman was released from Bnei Tzion Hospital in Haifa as well, instructed to continue taking medication but doctors determined she does not have swine flu.

Stringent measures are still in place at border crossings and all arrivals from Mexico will undergo a medical exam at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Those arrivals who do not exhibit any signs of the illness are being asked/urged to remain home in voluntary isolation for a week, an incubation period, to make certain the signs of the illness do not become apparent in the days following arrival. Two elderly residents were placed in isolation on Thursday, including a 75-year-old female who recently returned from Mexico. She is admitted to Laniado Hospital in Netanya.

A 28-year-old woman who explained she has been in contact with a man who returned from Mexico two weeks ago has been placed in isolation in Haifa’s Bnei Tzion Hospital. She told hospital officials she feels flu symptoms. Doctors explain it is most unlikely she is infected but they prefer not to take chances.

On a positive note, Israel’s first swine flu victim, Tomer Vajim, was discharged from Laniado Hospital on Friday.

Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Avi Yisraeli reports enough Tamiflu is being purchased to treat 1/3 of the population should there be a true outbreak. The ministry has established a hotline number, manned from 07:00-19:00. The number are 972-3-6951541, or *3090.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)