Here's what Waseda first had to say about swine flu (all these notifications come to our email inboxes market "URGENT":
There has been confirmed cases of people being infected by the swine influenza in Mexico, the United States and several other countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that its pandemic alert level will be increased from Phase 3 (sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks) to Phase 4 (verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause "community-level outbreaks") on April 27th.
If any confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission occur, Waseda University will cancel classes, close campus, and have students be on-call at home. Also any activities or extracurricular activities planned on-campus will all be cancelled.
Please make sure to take precautionary measures such as stockpiling essential items such as food and water.
Hmm...there are a couple hundred confirmed cases in Japan, but we still have classes. I'll bet you that once the flu shows up within the Tokyo city center (ie within the Yamanote line), they'll shut school for a week.
Now they're really swinging into action: if you have swine flu, they'll- wait for it- excuse your absence from class! Does this apply if you go and test negative, or only if you actually have it?
As previously announced, Waseda University is continuing to conduct classes, research and extracurricular activities as usual. Should developments with the influenza A (H1N1) epidemic make it necessary to suspend classes in the future, a formal announcement will be made to that effect. In the meantime, any students experiencing flu-like symptoms are urged to make contact with the special influenza advisory centers that have been established by Japanese authorities for that purpose. A list of such centers follows below. Should you feel ill and suspect that you may have succumbed to infection, please seek and follow medical advice. Refrain from coming to the university. In particular, please adhere carefully to any direction from a medical professional that you should recuperate at home and avoid contact with others. If diagnosed as likely to be suffering from the new strain of influenza please make contact with the Waseda University Health Support Center via telephone whilst remaining at rest at home or under medical supervision. Upon full recovery please present a medical certificate (Shindansho) to your host faculty or graduate school office and complete the relevant form for leave of absence from class (‘kesseki todoke’). When this formality has been completed, the University and your professors can then apply special consideration to your circumstances.
I guess I appreciate the sentiment, but what a painfully stiff email!
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