IN KUALA LUMPUR
FOUR schools in Malaysia have been told to close for a week after several students were found infected with the H1N1 virus, but not everyone it seems, is unduly worried about the health alert.
The virus took exactly a month to spread in Malaysia, hitting 69 cases on Tuesday — of which nine were locally transmitted.
The four schools ordered shut in the Klang Valley — one in Kuala Lumpur and three in Selangor — included an international school. The Health Ministry is not taking any chances in an outbreak occuring.
Besides conducting the mandatory thermal screenings at all entry points, the ministry also advised students who recently returned from United Kingdom, United States, Australia and the Phillippines to quarantine themselves at home for a week. Those who want to enter the country will also have to declare their health status.
And the newspapers have been playing up this issue with page 1 stories over the last few days.
Still, those staying outside Selangor and Klang Valley feel that the influenza pandemic has not reached a serious stage.
"I don't see anyone walking around with a surgical mask in public and people are still travelling.
"The only precaution that we probably take is to avoid visiting the affected places or people," Alisha Kaur, a teacher in Penang, told The Straits Times.
But Miss Kaur feels that Malaysians should not be allowed to travel to affected countries. "This could reduce the chances of transmitting the virus," she added.
The locals in Selangor hoped the government would do more to prevent the virus from spreading, as most of the cases are there.
"The Health Ministry and Education Ministry should work together to prevent the flu from spreading in schools. It would be better if they close all schools in the Klang Valley for now," said salesman James Devan.
"The government should take steps to vaccinate the public as soon as it becomes available or to administer some sort of medication to deal with the flu symptoms," said another local, Mr Leo Goh.
"They shouldn't have to wait till someone dies," the businessman added.
Ironically, some local folks were angry when schools took the necessary preventive measures.
The New Straits Times reported that a father in Shah Alam, Selangor was upset when a high school sent his son home when the school learned that the family had gone for an overseas trip during the school holidays.
The school had closed one of its classes for a week when a student was found positive with the virus.
"Our family just came back from performing umrah (pilgrimage) in Mecca two days ago and we passed the health screenings at the airport.
"Why is the school jumping on this? My son was told to stay at home although he has a clean bill of health," Mr Zawawi Shamroz told the newspaper.
His son was among 15 students who were ordered to go home although they were not in the same class as the infected student.
Mr Zawawi was also furious with the student's family for visiting the US.
"They should have known which countries are affected with the virus but they simply went for vacation."
Like it or not, there should be more vigilance about the virus as the flu is not likely to stop spreading anytime soon.