New York school closed due to A(H1N1) flu to re-open next week

May 1, 2009, 17:04 GMT

New York - A Catholic high school that was closed because of the highest cluster of A(H1N1) influenza cases in the United States is expected to reopen next week following thorough cleaning, news reports said Friday.

The Saint Francis school in the New York City borough of Queens, closed since Monday, has been air purified and the facility sanitized. It should re-open on Monday allowing the more than 2,000 students to return, the reports said after government and school officials met to discuss the re-opening.

The city of New York has 49 confirmed A(H1N1) influenza cases, 47 of which were located at Saint Francis, out of the US total of 109 confirmed cases in 11 states. Most of the students who contracted the influenza, also called swine flu, had travelled to Mexico in March during their spring break.

The city's health authorities were also investigating 16 probable cases, some of which were at Public School 177 in Queens. PS 177 was also closed this week for cleaning but it was not known whether it would re-open next week.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday called on New Yorkers to remain alert about the spread of the flu by taking measures such as staying home if they fell sick and reporting to an emergency room in a hospital of the illness became worse.