12:24pm Wednesday 8th July 2009
Pembroke School remains open today (Wednesday) despite a suspected case of swine flu.
A concerned parent of a pupil at the school rang the Western Telegraph this morning to say that headteacher Mr Ciccotti used the school's tannoy system to announce the case to pupils at the start of the school day.
It is believed the outbreak is currently confined to one woman who works in a small unit for pupils with special educational needs.
Mr Ciccotti urged pupils not to panic. However, it is understood that panicked children are calling their parents and asking to be picked up from the school.
Pembrokeshire County Council's contact centre has also been inundated with calls from concerned parents.
The mother who contacted the Western Telegraph said she was angry that parents had not been informed first and that the school had not been closed. She said she was informing as many people as possible.
"My children phoned me and they were really worried," she said. "I'm really angry that the school didn't tell us parents directly."
Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed that a member of staff at the school is currently resting at home after becoming ill with flu-like symptoms.
"Pembroke School’s headteacher Frank Ciccotti will be writing to all parents of pupils at the school," said a spokesman.
"The letter will be delivered to them via their children and will also be posted on the website.
"The school remains open."
The NPHS is advising that healthy people showing no flu-like symptoms should continue to attend school.
Healthy people with flu-like symptoms or respiratory illness are advised to stay at home, check their symptoms on the NHS Direct Wales website or the swine flu information line on 0800 1 513 513. If they are still concerned they should phone their GP or NHS Direct Wales on 0845 4647.
They should not go to their local surgery or A&E in case they spread the virus to others, especially at-risk groups.
There have now been 60 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in Wales with a total of four people hospitalised.
A total of seven people in the UK have died after contracting the virus, all had underlying health problems.
“Evidence so far suggests that the majority of patients have had relatively mild symptoms and with rest recover within five to seven days," said Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Tony Jewell.
“While we are prepared for this, we are not complacent and people must be vigilant. Our advice to the public remains the same and that is to follow good respiratory and hand hygiene – in short, catch it, bin it, kill it – to help prevent the spread of influenza.”
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