Dear Students, Parents, IST Employees, and Visitors to Our School

As you will all be well aware, the World is currently in the midst of a rapidly escalating Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic with locally transmitted cases now occurring in China. At this time, WHO continues to consider the overall severity of the influenza pandemic to be moderate. This assessment is based on scientific evidence available to WHO, as well as input from its Member States on the pandemic's impact on their health systems, and their social and economic functioning.

In spite of our best efforts to maintain a controlled environment, several students in our school did contract the virus during the week of 24-28 August. In an effort to contain this outbreak the school chose to close for six days and fortunately no further spread of the virus occurred and all of the students affected quickly returned to good health.

Our community responded swiftly and positively to the situation and we continue to make every possible effort to minimize the possibility of a further outbreak and an additional force majeure closing of the school. In addition to maintaining existing strict hygiene and security controls we have implemented additional protocols to ensure that IST remains a highly controlled, low-risk environment for our community members.

Key protocols and procedures currently in force at our school

• Strict hygiene and cleaning procedures
• Community education about the disease and ways in which we can help prevent its spread, including basic hygiene techniques such as hand-washing and the use of tissues, is ongoing. We strongly encourage parents to reinforce this further with family members, ayis, and drivers.
• All IST staff members must be vaccinated against seasonal influenza. Parents are strongly encouraged to have their children vaccinated. Mass vaccinations have been coordinated at school.
• Strict controls are in force regarding students and staff members coming to school when sick, in an attempt to ensure that flu bugs remain at home. This includes a mandatory 7-day stay-at-home period if sent home by the school nurses with fever and flu-like symptoms and compulsory clearance by the nurses before re-entering school. Health checking procedures are as follows
  • Personal thermometers have been purchased for all students and staff. In addition to the initial temperature scan upon entering the school buildings, temperatures will be being checked an additional two times per day.
  • Any student or staff member whose temperature reads 37.2 and above must report to the school nurse for further health and temperature checks. The school will tolerate temperatures up to 37.4 degrees so long as no other influenza symptoms present and the patient feels well.
  • Patients who present with temperatures 37.2 degrees and above and with one or more flu or cold symptom will be sent home and may not return to school until cleared of the H1N1 virus by the Tianjin Fever Clinic or a local CDC Health Center. A certificate of clearance is required.
  • Any patients with temperatures 37.5 degrees and above but no accompanying flu or cold symptoms will be sent home but may return to school after one day so long as there is no fever and no accompanying flu/cold symptoms.
• Contingency planning for a distance learning home study programme is in place.
• Access to the campus and buildings is restricted:
  • Only students, staff, parents, IST contracted personnel, personal drivers with IST driver identification cards, and essential suppliers are allowed to enter the IST campus. All other visitors are required to wait for an authorized member of the school staff to approve entry to the campus.
  • IST employees and parents who do not have their IST identification cards will be stopped at the gate and will be required to wait for an authorized member of the school staff to approve entry to the campus.
  • Personal drivers and essential suppliers may not enter the school buildings.
  • All members of the community entering the school buildings are required to sanitize their hands upon arrival and have their temperature taken. Anyone with a fever or flu-like symptoms is checked by a school nurse and asked to leave the campus.

Please note that the school is obliged to report all student absences due to illness to the local CDC office. If your child is sent home sick with influenza symptoms it is highly likely that a CDC officer will contact you to ensure your child has undergone a health check at the Tianjin Fever Clinic where s/he will either be diagnosed as positive or negative for the H1N1 virus. A negative diagnosis allows your child to return to school as soon as his or her flu symptoms are gone.  A positive diagnosis will mean a 7 day quarantine followed by the issuance of a clearance certificate. Students must present a clearance certificate to return to school if they are diagnosed as H1N1 positive.  

It is quite likely that students may be sent home with symptoms from non-H1N1 strains of influenza which do not normally demand an automatic 7 day quarantine. However, once sent home with influenza symptoms the only way to re-enter school within the 7 day stand down period is through the issuance of an H1N1 clearance certificate.  Parents are therefore strongly advised to have their children tested at the Tianjin Fever Clinic where a negative diagnosis for H1N1 will permit the student to return to school as soon as symptoms are clear.

H1N1 Travel Restrictions

Chinese authorities have strongly recommended that community members entering China from foreign ports follow a self imposed quarantine of 7 days. We therefore advise all community members to return to China at least 7 days prior to a return to school. 

It is extremely important that anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms stay away from the school, regardless of whether or not they have previously quarantined themselves, and that they seek immediate medical treatment. 

I fully understand that many of the protocols and procedures that we have put in place may cause some inconvenience; however, I trust that community members will be patient and understanding of the reasons for these measures and will support the school as it seeks to safeguard the health and well-being of us all.

Wishing you all good health, 

Steve Moody

Director

Influenza A - 7 DAY QUARANTINE CANCELLED (English, Korean, French)

LATEST H1N1 COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (English, Korean)

DIRECTIONS FEVER CLINIC (English, Korean)

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS (English, Korean)

FLU VACCINATION CONSENT FORM (English)

TRAVEL SURVEY FORM (English, German, French)