Armenia's chief infection specialist Ara Asoyan’s appeared on Public Television over the weekend calling for the immediately closure of schools throughout Armenia as a precaution against the spread of seasonal flu.

The doctor’s call raised concern and some alarm among the public, and prompted health officials to meet today (December 7) to discuss the situation. A decision is expected to be reached Monday or Tuesday on whether it is necessary to close public schools.

“Currently the Municipality of Yerevan and the Heath Ministry are cooperating to collect the indexes of attendance at schools, and the decision to be made depends on them,” Shushan Hunanyan, assistant to the Minister of Health of Armenia, told ArmeniaNow. She says that if the decision is positive, “schools and kindergartens will most probably be closed beginning next week.”

Attendance at many schools in Yerevan has already sharply decreased. According to the The State Hygienic and Anti-Epidemiological Inspection of the Republic of Armenia (SHAE), schools having 300-500 students, are averaging about 100 absentees per day.

Some headmasters told ArmeniaNow that closing schools abruptly will cause problems with concluding the semester, however:

“There is no need to argue with an illness, if the infection is really being spread, it is necessary to prevent it,” Larisa Baghdyan, headmaster of the Paruyr Sevak secondary school No.123 says.

Health officials have stepped up efforts to combat a flu virus that has touched nearly every family and has led to at least three deaths.

Asoyan’s appeal coincided with information about new cases of the swine flu registered in Armenia, as over the weekend the number of people infected with H1N1 in Armenia increased by seven, to 35. (Swine flu has no apparent connection to the common flu virus.)