Long lines, face masks and bottles of rubbing alcohol greeted college students on the first day of their classes Monday due to the heightened precautionary measures of schools on Influenza A (H1N1) virus.

Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) officials said about 2.6 million students trooped to Metro Manila’s 1,726 colleges and universities Monday.

De La Salle University Manila opened its doors Monday after 10 days of self-imposed quarantine triggered by some students found with the virus.

As this developed, the Department of Health declared a community outbreak in Hilera Village, Jaen, Nueva Ecija after 92 residents, including 11 pupils from Hilera Elementary School showed symptoms of the virus. The school also suspended its classes.

Opening of classes in the Doña Candelaria Meneses Duque High School in Bulacan, Bulacan, meanwhile, were re-scheduled as the school underwent a 10-day self-quarantine due to suspected cases of the virus on students.

Officials said 49 students of Doña Candelaria Meneses Duque High School,were suspected to have Influenza A (H1N1). Kenneth Tirado, spokesperson of the Department of Education, confirmed the suspension of the classes in that school.

Also Monday, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus reiterated his appeal to students and their parents not to panic, especially in areas where there is an AH1N1 outbreak. He urged parents and school officials to strictly adhere to the AH1N1 Response Level System issued by both DepEd and DoH.

The De La Salle University Student Council distributed rubbing alcohol Monday while its marketing and communications office handed out T-shirts, pins and other materials with information regarding the flu virus to students and personnel entering the campus.

University of the East, meanwhile, is doing its share to protect students and personnel from the virus threat. According to the school’s Marketing Department, security personnel are required to wear face masks while the university’s medical clinic personnel check students’ body temperature through digital thermometers upon entering the campus. Rubbing alcohol is also available at the school’s gates.

Although the school has no confirmed cases of the virus among its students and personnel, UE intensely implemented its precautionary measures at its three campuses - Manila, Caloocan and Quezon City. The school intensified its information dissemination campaign through posters placed inside their campuses and foreign students were also advised to confine themselves for a mandatory 10-day self quarantine.

In general, CHEd Chairman Dr. Emmanuel Angeles said that based on reports of colleges and universities around the country, the schools had a fairly smooth opening of classes Monday.

Angeles also said that there was a slow traffic of students entering schools creating lines outside campuses as one of the precautionary measures of the schools like going through thermal scanners.

It was noted that the CHEd suspended the opening of classes of higher education institutions from June 8 to June 15 due to the Influenza A (H1N1) virus threat, especially in colleges and universities in Metro Manila with a big number of foreign students.

DepEd’s Tirado stressed that the Bulacan students were not yet found positive of the flu virus.

Tirado said that the Department of Health is already conducting its mapping out operation in the Bulacan school while school officials have taken the necessary precaution and measures to address the problem.

“We have a procedure and we should be careful because this is the time of coughs and fever since it’s the rainy season. They should have this checked with the doctors first and not make hasty judgments,” Lapus said in appealing for calm and sobriety.