Schools in Bulgaria’s Shoumen district to close because of flu
Schools in Bulgaria’s Shoumen district will be closed from January 13 to 18 inclusive because of the large number of pupils and teachers absent because they have influenza.
Education Minister Sasho Penov issued the order closing all 65 schools in the district on the basis of a decision by the district operational headquarters for the fight against influenza.
Earlier, it was announced that schools in Bulgaria’s Bourgas district would be closed from January 12 to 17 inclusive, also because of a flu epidemic in the district.
At a meeting on January 12, Varna’s district operational headquarters decided against closing schools, given that the influenza morbidity rate had not yet reached the epidemic level, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported.
In all probability, schools in the Varna district will be closed at the end of January, the report said.
In the Pazardzhik district, the flu situation remains pre-epidemic, and for now, no restrictive measures will be introduced.
In the Yambol district, the number of people who have flu and acute respiratory illnesses was continuing to rise and if the trend continues, next the district medical council will be convened to decide on anti-epidemic measures, BNR said on January 12.
In Plovdiv, local media reported the head of the regional health inspectorate’s anti-epidemic department, Dr Tanya Uchordzhieva, as saying that there was no drastic change in the number of pupils absent from school because of flu and acute respiratory diseases.
There was an increase in cases in the Plovdiv district, but it had not reached epidemic levels, she said.
Bulgaria’s Health Ministry has said that there is no cause for a national flu epidemic declaration, and has called on people to take anti-epidemic precautions, such as mask-wearing and avoiding crowded places.
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