By Stephanie Desmon, Kelly Brewington and Arin Gencer , stephanie.desmon@baltsun.com and kelly.brewington@baltsun.com|May 02, 2009
Gov. Martin O'Malley shuttered four schools Friday attended by students suspected of having the swine flu - even though there are no confirmed cases of the virus in Maryland yet - and said the state will close any public or private school where a student is believed to be infected.
The move comes a day after health officials said there was no need to cancel classes at schools with suspected cases of the new virus and reassured parents in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties that it was safe to send their children back to schools where students had become sick.
O'Malley signed an executive order declaring a public health emergency. He said health officials reversed course after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out Friday with new guidelines recommending the strict closure policy designed to stop the spread of the swine flu, which has now sickened 141 people in 19 states and killed a toddler in Texas. There are many more suspected cases, including 11 likely ones in Maryland.
"The goal here is to create more social distance," O'Malley said. "If we can create distance in a place where we have a probable case, the hope is that we can slow down somewhat the advance of the flu."
The affected schools are: Rockville High School in Montgomery County; Milford Mill Academy in Baltimore County; Folger McKinsey Elementary School in Anne Arundel County; and Montpelier Elementary School in Prince George's County. The schools will be closed for up to 14 days. Extracurricular activities also are canceled.
Rockville High never opened Friday because a student there appeared to be the first person in Maryland thought to have acquired the virus without having contact with someone who had traveled to Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak and the place with the most severe cases. Later, officials determined that the ill student at Montpelier also had no link to Mexico or any other affected country.
The schools in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, where officials announced Wednesday that there were likely cases, were open for the past two days despite the knowledge that a sick child attended each school. Many parents kept their children home. At Milford Mill, parents are being told that school will open Thursday. Frances Phillips, deputy state health secretary, said decisions to reopen will be made on a case-by-case basis.
