Parents and teachers are reported to have jammed the switchboards at prefectural offices across the country, seeking information about which schools are likely to close as the rate of people testing positive for swine flu increases.

Yesterday Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros called on the heads of 250 schools in the capital to suspend classes for a week. Piraeus Prefect Yiannis Michas ordered the closure of 16 primary schools, four secondary schools and six kindergartens. The action was described as “a preventive measure to avert the further spread of the new flu virus.”

In other parts of the country, prefectural officials have taken similar measures. In the northern prefecture of Serres, there are reports of around 500 absences every day of schoolchildren with swine flu symptoms.

Another concern, with Christmas just a few weeks away, is the annual excursions that schools often organize at this time of year. The Education Ministry yesterday sent a circular to schools, calling for children with symptoms of swine flu to be excluded from such trips. The circular also provides school heads with detailed instructions about how to operate with minimum risk over the next few weeks when outbreaks of swine flu are expected to increase sharply, according to experts.

The number of swine flu-related fatalities in Greece rose to 13 yesterday following the death of a 74-year-old man who had contracted the virus but had a history of health problems. The vast majority of swine flu-linked deaths in Greece have affected people with underlying ailments.

Hundreds more people received their jabs against swine flu yesterday, bringing the total of those inoculated against the H1N1 virus to above 36,000.