Students and staff stricken with Chik V symptoms return to school

Scores of  students and staff  at the Yallahs Primary School in St. Thomas, who were stricken with symptoms of  the Chikungunya virus, are expected to return to classes on Monday.
     
Over the past three weeks, more than 200 students and 18 teachers  stayed away from classes after becoming ill with pain and flu-like symptoms.

Principal Yvette Graham, was among those who became ill.

“I left there since last Wednesday and those with whom I spoke will be out and everyone left before me. I expect all teachers except one and many students should be back,” she told RJR News.

Last week, the Ministry of  Education reported that nearly 700 students were absent from 25 schools in St. Thomas due to the mass illness.                                                      

And Health Minister, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has provided an update on the number of  confirmed cases of  chikungunya.

“Chikungunya cases have now moved to 35 but there are 352 suspected cases and if you look at what is happening in the Americas the number of confirmed cases is a little over 9,000 but the number of suspected cases is over 700,000,” he said.