Here we go again. Three New York City Public schools in the borough of Queens have been shut down because of unusually high levels of flu-like illnesses. Five people at Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, Queens have tested positive for H1N1 ("Swine Flu") influenza and one of them, an assistant principal, is in critical condition. The New York Times is reporting that he "appeared to have had some health conditions that could have made him more susceptible to the virus".
Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst, Queens is being closed because of 241 students absent with flu-like symptoms (According to NY1 News). ABC News is reporting it as: "Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 241 students at I.S. 5 and 29 at P.S. 16 were either sick with flu-like symptoms or simply absent from school."
The third school closed is Public School 16 in Corona, Queens, with 29 students sent to the nurse's office with symptoms.
According to CBS News:
Last month, a swine flu outbreak at the St. Francis Preparatory School and PS 177 in Queens forced officials to shut down those schools and several others linked to those confirmed cases. [Mayor] Bloomberg said there appears to be no links between those schools and the three closed on Thursday.
"There is no known connection between the three schools. They are reasonably far apart – five, six miles, but they are all in Queens. We just don't know if this is an influenza strain that can change," Bloomberg said.
Link to video of Mayor Bloomberg's Press Conference [Warning: Mayor Bloomberg attempts to speak Spanish. View at your own risk.]
Hopefully closing these schools will help slow down the spread.