KABUL, Nov 21, 2009 (AFP) - Afghan schools and most tertiary institutions will reopen on Sunday after being shut for three weeks following the country's first swine flu death, the education ministry said Saturday.
Universities in cold regions will reopen in February, while those in warmer regions in the south of the country would reopen Sunday, an official of the ministry of higher education told AFP.
"The Ministry of Education informs all students of teacher colleges, technical and professional institutes, including private schools, that studies in all higher education institutions related to the ministry will resume from November 22," it said in a statement.
The ministry earlier announced that all schools would also reopen Sunday.
It said that students would be "compelled" to wear face masks and follow sanitation and prevention guidelines issued by the health ministry.
All schools were ordered closed on November 1 for three weeks after an engineer from Kabul became the first Afghan to die of the (A)H1N1 swine flu virus.
The ministry at the time said there are about 7.5 million students and teachers in Afghanistan.
The A(H1N1) virus was first detected in Afghanistan in July among American soldiers stationed at the Bagram military base, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul.
The infections were discovered during a general health check-up among the troops at the base.
The latest data from the World Health Organisation showed that around 6,750 people worldwide had died from swine flu since the virus was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 11/21/2009 05:51:36
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