MANILA - As more schools report cases on influenza A (H1N1), the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday announced several revisions to the protocol on class suspensions in connection with the disease.

The DOH said that schools now have the option to suspend classes only in selected units or buildings where the cases of A (H1N1) are reported.

DOH director Yolanda Oliveros said that there will be an evaluation of health authorities, which will then recommend to school officials which classes, buildings or departments of a school should declare class suspensions.

In earlier DOH rules, classes are suspended in an entire school for ten days once a case of the illness is reported.

This selective suspension was first done by the University of Santo Tomas, after the school suspended classes in select colleges.

Only classes of colleges occupying the San Martin De Porres building - the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and the Colleges of Nursing and Rehabilitation Sciences - have been suspended by the university, due to one confirmed case of A (H1N1).
Classes for these units will resume June 30, while offices using the said building have been temporarily been relocated to other buildings in the campus starting Tuesday.

The Faculty of Engineering, which occupies the school's Roque Ruano building, will also be closed Tuesday as they await test results for one student.

All other colleges, faculties, institutes and departments of the said university.

"To prevent the spread of the AH1N1 virus, we enjoin all the members of the Thomasian community to strictly adhere to the guidelines released by the Department of Health and the UST Task Force for AH1N1," a statement from the university, signed by UST Secretary General Fr. Isidro Abaño, OP, stated.

More schools suspend classes

Aside from the selected UST units, several other schools in Luzon and the Visayas have suspended classes due to cases of the disease.

In the capital region, classes have been suspended for ten days, starting Monday, in Saint Paul College in Makati (pre-school to high school), Saint Scholastica's College in Manila, La Salle Greenhills in San Juan, Paref Southridge School in Muntinlupa, and the Don Bosco Techinical Institute in Mandaluyong.

Classes in Adamson University will resume Thursday, after a case of A (H1N1) on campus. Meanwhile at the Waldorf School in Quezon City classes will also resume Thursday as they await test results for a suspected case of A (H1N1).

The Manila Central University in Caloocan also announced a suspension of classes from Tuesday due to some employees testing positive of the virus. Classes will resume on Monday at the said school.

Outside the capital region, five schools in Santa Rosa, Laguna have suspended classes after 11 cases of A (H1N1) have been reported in the municipality.

Nine of the 11 new patients are students. The other two patients are a local and a balikbayan from Japan.

However, local Department of Education (DepEd) officials are not taking chances, and will suspend classes in other Santa Rosa schools even without A (H1N1) cases.

In Mandaue City, three students at the University of Cebu - Lapu Lapu/Mandaue campus also tested positive of the illness, prompting school and health officials to quarantine a whole dormitory with more than 600 students to contain the spread of the virus.

The three cases in Mandaue are included in the total 14 cases of A (H1N1) in Central Visayas.

The World Health Organization on Monday reported a huge leap in the swine flu pandemic toll to more than 52,000 people infected and 231 dead.

The toll has risen by more than 7,873 cases and 51 deaths since Friday, highlighting the steady spread of the A(H1N1) virus.

Swine flu has now been reported in 100 countries and territories. With reports from Joey Villarama, ABS-CBN News, and the Agence France-Presse