School Closures in Japan Double Because of Swine Flu Pandemic

By Anna Kitanaka
Last Updated: October 15, 2009 23:39 EDT
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Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The number of schools in Japan closed because of the swine flu pandemic nearly doubled by Oct. 10 from a week earlier, according to figures from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Almost 6,480 schools, kindergartens and day-care centers were fully or partially closed because of the influenza outbreak, the report said. Tokyo had the highest number, with 752 schools affected last week. Japan had 52,956 schools and kindergartens in May this year, according to the Education Ministry.

School closures are at the highest since January 2000 when 4,131 schools were closed, said Takeshi Enami, Deputy Director of the division of infectious diseases at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

There were 3,403 educational centers closed between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, according to another report from the ministry.

More than 15,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Japan, according to the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center. There were 24 deaths as of Oct. 14, according to the health ministry Web site. Of those, six were under the age of 20.

Many schools are closed in Japan during the flu season, the ministry said on its web site. Schools may be required to close if they are in an infected area, even if no students or staff develop flu symptoms, according to the ministry.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo akitanaka@bloomberg.net.