In Executive Order No. 264, the school opening will be on August 24 instead of August 10.
Toribiong in his order said that the Ministry of Health has strongly recommended to the president that as a precautionary measure to further limit and minimize the spread of the H1N1 influenza and influenza like illnesses in Palau.Health Minister Stevenson Kuartei told reporters that there have been 712 influenza like illnesses in Palau and at the alternative care sites, there have been 30 patients per day.He said that it is hitting ages 5 years old to over 55 years old.He said the delay in the school opening will be in public schools, it is the discretion however of private schools if they want to postpone the opening too.“It is the best interest of the Republic for the government to be proactive and to take the appropriate precautions to protect the health, safety and security of our students, it being less costly to postpone the start of school than to risk the further spread of the H1N1 influenza,” Toribiong said.The order said that no public or parochial schools in the republic shall begin their 2009-2010 school year until at least August 24.With this, Kuartei said Palau will secure more resources to help with the H1N1 prevention.In the recent meeting of the Pacific Island Health Officer’s Association in Hawaii in which Kuartei attended, he said Palau will secure at least $30,000.It is a form of reimbursement for money intended for Bioterrorism program which was used for the H1N1 program instead.
