Child "probable" for Swine Flu

BEMUS POINT, N.Y. (WIVB) - The Bemus Point School District is being very cautious. A parent and that parent's child who attends school there are being tested. Both had been to Mexico. The child is "probable" for Swine Flu.

About 900 school children, Pre-Kindergarten through 12, in the Bemus Point School District will have Friday off, after a student at Maple Grove Junior Senior High School tested probable for Swine Flu.

Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards said, "That means that sample then gets sent on to the Centers for Disease Control for determination, and we hope to get that in within 24 hours."

The student's symptoms are apparently mild.

Bemus Point School Superintendent Al D'Attilio said, "Right now the student that we're talking about has very little symptoms. I mean he had a little cough, and was upset that he couldn't come into school."

The child and a parent were tested. The parent's results are still not in.

Edwards said, "We're asking people to be cautious. There is absolutely no reason to panic."

There was a faculty meeting at the Junior Senior High School with the announcement that the school buildings will be shut down through Sunday with all athletic events postponed.

School buildings will be scrubbed down with special attention to hands-on surfaces.

D'Attilio said, "We want to put the welfare of the students and the community up in the forefront. Therefore that's why we made this deciosion."

Grandparent Donna Carroll said, "I am glad the school is taking action on this, and that they're putting the benefit of the students in front of anything else."

Youngsters at the elementary school have been looking forward to at PTA talent show this weekend. It will have to wait, but the students accept the situation.

A Bemus Point Elementary School student said, "I just want to say, I hope my friends are healthy."

In Niagara County, two adults are being tested for Swine Flu; one had traveled to Mexico, the other to New York City.

Rich Newberg's previous report.

State Health Department website and hotline