School canceled for two days

DOLLAR BAY -- A possible swine flu outbreak caused Dollar Bay-Tamarack City to cancel school Monday.

The district will remain closed through Tuesday.  In the meantime they’ve turned to the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department for help to keep the virus from spreading.

While the playground was empty and the doors were locked at the Dollar Bay-Tamarack City schools, the custodians walked the school halls trying to disinfect everything from desks to door handles where swine flu germs may be lingering.

"On Friday we had a high incidence of absent students--about 48 kids--and as the day progressed, that number grew to about 75 or close to 25 percent,” said Dr. Jan Quarless, the school Superintendent.

Dr. Teresa Frankovich, the medical director for the Health Department, said that none of the cases have been confirmed as swine flu because the state labs no longer test on a case-by-case basis.

Still she says the school was right to close and allow time for sick students to recover and other students to possibly show symptoms.

"Prevention is key,” said Dr. Frankovich.  “The message we've been giving out is about good hand-washing, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water aren't available, coughing into your sleeve and most importantly, staying home when you're sick."

Vaccines available as injections and nasal sprays will be a big part of prevention as well.  Right now they're only being given out to high-risk patients and health care providers.

"We’re gradually getting in doses of the vaccine and are hopefully going to be able to offer in-school vaccination clinics in the next few weeks," Dr. Frankovich said.

Schools in Dollar Bay will reopen on Wednesday.

For the latest school closing information, rely on UpperMichigansSource.com's School Closings Page.