Kuwait delays kindergarten by two months over swine flu

"For those with preschoolers, foreign kindergarten schools will have its opening by September 13."

August 30, 2009
Kuwait has decided to delay the reopening of kindergartens for two months for fear of the spread of swine flu after the Gulf emirate reported over 1,000 cases, the education minister said on Sunday.

The cabinet decided at an emergency meeting on Saturday night that the measure will also affect schools for students with special needs and nurseries, while other schools will reopen on schedule in the last week of September, Mudhi al-Homud told the official Kuna news agency.

Kuwait has reported 1,336 cases of A (H1N1) influenza, four of whom have died, including a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and a pregnant woman.

The decision came after pressure from lawmakers who called on the government to delay reopening of all schools for two months after the rate of infection in the emirate picked up rapidly in the past few weeks.

About 30 MPs have signed a request to convene an emergency session of parliament next week to discuss government preparations to face the disease. They must secure the support of 33 MPs for the session to take place.

Authorities last week decided to delay reopening of kindergartens at foreign schools by two weeks until September 13.

Kuwait has invited experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to assess the situation, health ministry undersecretary Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi said, adding that the ministry has set up a special hotline and beefed up preparations for the start of the school year.

Kuwait has ample stocks of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu and has ordered 45,000 vaccines for October and another one million by the end of the year.

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