Amelia cleans schools, buses to combat swine flu

After getting their cleaning products approved by the county health department, Amelia County school employees and contractors began disinfecting buses and schools yesterday.

The schools were closed this week after a spike in student absences attributed in part to the H1N1 flu virus and the death of 6-year-old Heaven Wilson last week.

The plan is to reopen schools Monday, Superintendent David M. Gangel said.

“Anything the students come in contact with will be thoroughly cleaned,“ he said. “We hope we can get back in the schools and have a healthy environment and healthy students and go forward.“

The H1N1 virus has been blamed for 11 deaths in Virginia and more than 1,000 nationwide.

High demand for the H1N1 vaccine and production delays have caused local health departments to run out or have a limited supply. School vaccination clinics were postponed, pending the arrival of more vaccine, which may start flowing faster as production increases.

Richmond hopes to resume some school-based vaccination clinics as early as Monday. Henrico County school officials still were waiting yesterday for word on when they might be able to hold more clinics.

Officials at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that 22.4 million doses had been produced, up from 14 million last week.

As of Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Health had ordered 563,000 doses of swine-flu vaccine.

Those doses already are in providers’ hands or on the way, said James B. Farrell, immunization division director at the Virginia Department of Health.

Student absences are higher than normal in some school districts, and school officials continue to be watchful and take precautions.

As of Tuesday, Chesterfield County’s 60,000-student school system had 9 percent absenteeism, up from 8 percent last week. The normal absentee rate ranges from 4 percent to 7 percent, school spokesman Shawn Smith said.

In Petersburg schools, the rate of absenteeism is coming down from last week and is about 10 percent this week.

On Tuesday, Henrico schools reported an absentee rate of about 11 percent. Absences were about 9 percent in Richmond schools and about 6 percent in Hanover County schools as of Tuesday.

In Amelia schools, Tom Holmes, transportation supervisor, and another employee began the task of disinfecting 41 buses and about a dozen cars yesterday.

“When we come back [Monday], they should be perfectly clean for whatever we put in there,“ he said.

Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or .

Staff writer Katherine Calos contributed to this report.