Health warning issued by school. What's your take on it? | ExpatWoman.com
 

Health warning issued by school. What's your take on it?

576
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 11:40

Hey ladies

This morning a friend has forwarded a health warning to me that she received from her sons school yesterday (I think) and just want some opinions on it as this is the first time i've come across this here. The message I received was as follows.....

"Dear all UAE Residents. Kindly as per UAE Health Authority, avoid any hot spots such as shopping malls, hospitals, parks, public places, water parks and beaches for the next 72 hours due to the spread of the new killing virus (Corona) which has been discovered recently in UAE - Al Ain and other parts of the UAE including Dubai, Ajman and Sharjah, until further notice (it was discovered in Al Ain and already 5 people died because of it and they are Asian - Filipino nationals) Keep forwarding as it is a fast spreading disease. "

Has anyone else received a similar warning from schools or nurseries, or generally heard about it? Do warnings like this tend to be a bit sensationalist over here or should it be taken seriously? I dont want to be super paranoid about it but my DD seems to pick up every infection going at the moment and dont want to be putting her at any unnecessary risk.

Would appreciate any thoughts on this, especially if there's any healthcare professionals on here working in any of the hospitals / clinics who can shed any accurate info on the situation.
TIA! :) xx

295
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 April 2014 - 10:41
Yes a Filipino paramedic from Al Ain died from a mers-Corona virus. They have quite a number of people in incubation right now as well. I don't think that it is at panic stage right now, but it is something to be aware of. As for schools closing for rain, well, it is against the law for schools to be open if they lose power, running water or cannot operate in a normal manner with all facilities, plus the chaos on the roads when there is flooding leads me to believe that they did the right thing that day. Rain is not a regular occurrence here. It was SPITTING!!!!!!!!!!
993
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EW GURU
Latest post on 20 April 2014 - 14:14
http://www.arabnews.com/news/558446
1381
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 17 April 2014 - 10:02
I also got the same message in whatsapp and immediately after scouring internet for any online information or news i couldn't see any except from the 5 cases in Al Ain. I did however replied back on whatsapp that please do not forward such panic messages without substantial backup.
2264
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 April 2014 - 09:41
This kind of thing is terrible, especially where it doesn't even give the measures to take as a precaution i.e. reminding people about personal hygiene, hand washing etc which is obviously the 'important' part of any health related message.
8965
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 17 April 2014 - 09:30
Keep forwarding as it is a fast spreading disease And there's the dead giveaway that this is not, in any way, an official warning. Only hoax warnings ever urge you to "keep forwarding". The use of the sensationalist phrase "new killing virus" should also have been an obvious clue that this wasn't genuine. Official press releases would never use that sort of terminology. edited by Madge_Gustard on 16/04/2014 I didn't write the above post??????
1618
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 20:53
I've just seen it on FB where the person who posted it said it wasn't official notice from the school. It was something posted by a parent on the school parent's group page/FB. The information in the post is incorrect, in my opinion posts like that are dangerous.
841
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EW GURU
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 20:36
Keep forwarding as it is a fast spreading disease And there's the dead giveaway that this is not, in any way, an official warning. Only hoax warnings ever urge you to "keep forwarding". The use of the sensationalist phrase "new killing virus" should also have been an obvious clue that this wasn't genuine. Official press releases would never use that sort of terminology. <em>edited by Madge_Gustard on 16/04/2014</em>
Anonymous (not verified)
0
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 20:26
I received that same message in a whatsapp group, and was told this story isn't true. Does anyone know if it is? I'd be very annoyed if my kid's school would be sending out messages like that without any official information to back it up. ( not that I have kids)
2738
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 19:46
I did read the original story of the poor paramedic and although terrible enough that the focus of the story was of the non-repatriation of his remains, I did think then surely there is much more information that should be diffused. As you say CW it is something to be aware of - so where is this awareness, what symptoms are we to look out for and should we report to government health facilities etc etc without this there will be the hysterical over reactions as seen by the school notice. A quick google will tell you what to look for.
135
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 16:32
I did read the original story of the poor paramedic and although terrible enough that the focus of the story was of the non-repatriation of his remains, I did think then surely there is much more information that should be diffused. As you say CW it is something to be aware of - so where is this awareness, what symptoms are we to look out for and should we report to government health facilities etc etc without this there will be the hysterical over reactions as seen by the school notice.
680
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 15:13
Yes a Filipino paramedic from Al Ain died from a mers-Corona virus. They have quite a number of people in incubation right now as well. I don't think that it is at panic stage right now, but it is something to be aware of. As for schools closing for rain, well, it is against the law for schools to be open if they lose power, running water or cannot operate in a normal manner with all facilities, plus the chaos on the roads when there is flooding leads me to believe that they did the right thing that day. Rain is not a regular occurrence here.
2738
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 12:58
It was recently in the local press that 5 nurses had contracted MERS in Al Ain, and that one had then died of it. Unfortunately his body could not be returned to his home country because of the risk of inadvertently spreading the disease, so he had to be cremated here. Maybe that is where this has come from. If it truly was a school that sent out this message, then they need to be reported to the authorities. There are people who will take this seriously and panic! I thought they worked for the Al Ain ambulance service, but completely agree with reporting the source.
274
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 12:56
It was recently in the local press that 5 nurses had contracted MERS in Al Ain, and that one had then died of it. Unfortunately his body could not be returned to his home country because of the risk of inadvertently spreading the disease, so he had to be cremated here. Maybe that is where this has come from. If it truly was a school that sent out this message, then they need to be reported to the authorities. There are people who will take this seriously and panic!
2738
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 12:50
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2014_04_14_mers/en/ From the WHO about cases in the region and confirming that the authorities are on top of the situation. "WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it currently recommend the application of any travel or trade restrictions."
2738
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 12:33
Whoever posted this on any school website or related site to a school is highly irresponsible. If any school sent out such an appallingly written piece of information without the approval of the Ministry of Health and correct authorities i think there would be severe repercussions. I am sorry to say this looks like some Facebook scaremongering from a certain set of nationals. To date as far as i am aware the authorities in the UAE and the WHO are monitoring and dealing with the situation in the region. This is not just a UAE problem, it is a regional one. Doctors in the region are watching for symptoms and know what procedures to follow should they suspect a case, as they do with any outbreaks or communicable disease. If indeed this was a school who sent this out they should be reported to the appropriate authorities in order to be reprimanded for scaremongering. I thought new laws were coming out to prevent such misinformation via social media networks.
576
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 12:23
If it were a real threat, then schools / malls would have been shut. For crying out loud, they should schools if it may rain.... This is what I didn't understand.....they're effectively saying stay away from other people as this is such a health threat, but still bring your kids to school. Until the last few years, I've always worked in hospitals so am used to having accurate and reliable info on such outbreaks and am finding it really disconcerting not having that level of info anymore esp when things like this are banded about. Its hard to know what is reliable and what is just scaremongering. I think its kinda irresponsible of the school to be putting out sensationalist warnings to people. Since posting this I've had chance to do a bit more research and no-where that I have found, has any authority said anything even close to what the school warning has said. they are just basically saying to be vigilant about normal hand hygiene, especially if having been in contact with farm animals. Thanks for the replies ladies. Interested to hear if anyone else has any thoughts on this.
5334
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 11:50
If it were a real threat, then schools / malls would have been shut. For crying out loud, they should schools if it may rain....
8965
Posts
EW MASTER
Latest post on 16 April 2014 - 11:46
Hey ladies This morning a friend has forwarded a health warning to me that she received from her sons school yesterday (I think) and just want some opinions on it as this is the first time i've come across this here. The message I received was as follows..... "Dear all UAE Residents. Kindly as per UAE Health Authority, avoid any hot spots such as shopping malls, hospitals, parks, public places, water parks and beaches for the next 72 hours due to the spread of the new killing virus (Corona) which has been discovered recently in UAE - Al Ain and other parts of the UAE including Dubai, Ajman and Sharjah, until further notice (it was discovered in Al Ain and already 5 people died because of it and they are Asian - Filipino nationals) Keep forwarding as it is a fast spreading disease. " Has anyone else received a similar warning from schools or nurseries, or generally heard about it? Do warnings like this tend to be a bit sensationalist over here or should it be taken seriously? I dont want to be super paranoid about it but my DD seems to pick up every infection going at the moment and dont want to be putting her at any unnecessary risk. Would appreciate any thoughts on this, especially if there's any healthcare professionals on here working in any of the hospitals / clinics who can shed any accurate info on the situation. TIA! :) xx Someone sent this to me last night and the response in the newspaper is below http://m.gulfnews.com/news/uae/health/health-authority-urges-public-not-to-worry-about-mers-virus-1.1318978
 
 

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