The government is considering closing schools in the capital to help alleviate the pressure on the NHS and contain the spread of the virus.
Medical trade journal The Lancet has stated on the issue of infectious diseases like H1N1:
"It is ... hoped that closure of schools during the pandemic might break the chains of transmission, with the following potential benefits: reducing the total number of cases; slowing the epidemic to give more time for vaccine production; and reducing the incidence of cases at the peak of the epidemic, limiting both the stress on healthcare systems and peak absenteeism in the general population, and thus increasing community cohesion".
This would be the first widespread closure of London schools, with research indicating that schools staying open during the pandemic before the UK's 30,000 primary and secondary schools return from their summer holidays may exacerbate the outbreak further. The government is believed to be coming under pressure from health experts and business leaders to consider a revision on school closures in the capital, until the pandemic in brought under control.
Around 20 schools in Britain where pupils contracted swine flu were shut in May at the start of the pandemic in an effort to stop it spreading, the most likely age group to contract the virus are the 5 to 15 year olds.
The Government has been criticised for not providing sufficient clarity, with guidance to pregnant women that they are at higher risk of complications from swine flu, since pregnancy weakens women's immune systems. Pregnant women are also advised to avoid crowded places if possible.
The Associated Press have reported that some experts "wonder if the advice to avoid crowded places makes sense."
"We have very little or no evidence that being in crowds actually puts you at increased risk," said John Edmunds, a professor of infectious disease modeling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The U.S. Baptist missionaries in Haiti who are facing kidnapping charges for trying to take 33 children out of the country last week made an earlier attempt at taking children, a Haitian police officer said.
