Three students test positive,classes suspended,St John’s sends 20 back

Also,a 15-year-old student of Vivek High School,who lives in Mohali,tested positive.

Earlier,four positive cases were reported from the school.

Punjab’s nodal officer for swine flu Dr Deepak Bhatia said the boy lives in Phase VI. So far,18 people in Mohali have been affected with the virus.

School authorities,who were not willing to come on record about the cases,said they were following ‘strict’ instructions of the Health Secretary to not reveal any information,“as it could lead to panic”.

But doctors said since the onset of winters,one or two positive cases are being reported daily,and the trend continues.

St John’s High School,meanwhile,sent 20 students back home after they showed flu-like symptoms.

But parents complained that the school was “needlessly harassing them”.

“When the school rang me up,I came rushing from my office to take my son back home. They should have informed me in the morning itself if they found my son unwell,” a parent said.

But the school’s spokesperson said,“Parents should have been wise enough to not send them to school in the first place. Students were asked to go home as a preventive measure.”

Daily updates not needed: Niwas
Sharing information is considered the best way to curtail panic. But Health Secretary Ram Niwas does not think so.

“We don’t feel any immediate need to share swine flu information on daily basis. If required,the information will be given every week,as daily flow of information will create panic,” Niwas said.

UT swine flu nodal officer H C Gera said: “There are no instructions from higher authorities to give any information regarding swine flu cases.

As the nod comes,we will release updates.”