May 20, 2009 8:23 pm US/Eastern
Schools Now Closing Even Without Sick Students
Levittown School District Shuts Down As A Precaution, Despite No Swine Flu Cases
LEVITTOWN, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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A young girl wears a mask outside New York City's Elmhurst Hospital, where the emergency room was flooded by patients with flu-like symptoms on May 18, 2009.
CBS
More schools are shutting their doors over swine flu or simply the fear of it.
Four schools in Queens announced they'll be closed Wednesday. St. Demetrios School in Astoria, PS 242 in Flushing, and PS 130 and 993 in Bayside.
On Long Island, Valley Stream Memorial Junior High closed for confirmed cases of swine flu, and the Levittown School District will shut down Thursday as a precaution, which parents say is a good idea.
Parents we talked to leaving Levittown's Wisdom Lane Middle School supported the idea of all the schools being closed Thursday.
"I do. I have five kids and I don't want it spreading around any further," said parent Robin Ayers.
Of course, no one in the town has actually come down with the virus thus far.
"I think it's a good idea. They need to clean up the school and do the best they can," said parent Dean Knox.
While the kids were elated at having a sudden day off, the more thoughtful ones understood why.
"If the swine flu does come here to Wisdom, then it's gonna become a major problem," said Brian Klapak, a student at Wisdom Lane.
Earlier on long island, Valley Stream's Memorial Junior High school was closed, after eight students were confirmed to have swine flu. Even though the nearby high school was open, two girls there said they were not taking chances.
The 11 schools closed in Levittown means 8000 students will have an extra free day off Thursday.
"A lot of people have brothers and sisters at Memorial Junior High, so we're trying to be safe because we don't want to get swine flu," said Blair Hutchinson, a senior at Valley Stream Central, who along with classmate Ashley Wallace, wore a mask as she spoke to CBS 2.
"Since they didn't close our school down, we decided to do this, and if they tell us to take the masks off, we're going to tell them to tell us to go home," said Wallace.
Symptoms of the swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting as well. Anyone experiencing severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, should seek health care and treatment. The best way to prevent additional cases of flu in schools is to stay home when sick, cover your mouth when coughing and sneezing, and wash hands frequently.
For those who are ill, the recommendation is to stay home until they are symptom-free for at least 24 hours.
Eating pork or pork products cannot spread the swine flu.
Q&A: What Is Swine Flu?
CDC Swine Flu Facts Sheet
Learn At Home Student Guides
CBS News Interactive: Fighting The Flu
CDC Emergency Updates Via Twitter
Swine Flu Twitter Live Search Results
David Burnia's Swine Flu Watch On Twitter
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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