According to figures released by the World Health Organisation the pandemic has been found in 135 countries; a total of 94,512 cases have been reported with 429 deaths.
A number of Asian nations have been among the hardest hit with Thailand topping the list with 4.057 cases. In fact in Bangkok the authorities have shut down 435 schools and some 200 kindergartens.
Gulf States are also increasingly alarmed. In Saudi Arabia a school was closed, whilst in Bahrain the government is urging people to postpone any plans for pilgrimage to Makkah.
The Saudi Ministry of Education on Monday ordered the closure of an international school in Riyadh after 20 students tested positive for swine flu. Officials, however, declined to identify the school except to say that it is “East Asian.”
The 20 flu cases at the school, plus the additional 12 cases identified since Sunday, bring the total count of Saudi swine flu cases to 216.
The Ministry of Health has intensified its awareness program against swine flu throughout the Kingdom by sending SMS text messages to mobile phone users.
The message reads: “We have embarked on an intensive campaign to educate the masses on the preventive measures that should be taken to fight the disease”.
In Bahrain the authorities have also issued their own advisory, telling pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people suffering from chronic diseases to postpone plans for Umrah (pilgrimage to Makkah) because of the swine flu.