Flu outbreaks surge at Hong Kong schools as cold weather warning issued

Hong Kong schools are seeing a surge in flu outbreaks, health authorities have said, with the city’s forecaster issuing a cold weather warning as temperatures drop.

Albert Au Ka-wing, head of the Centre for Health Protection Communicable Disease Branch, told a radio program on Friday that the city had entered the flu season.

“We expect the number of influenza cases to further increase,” he said, adding that schools might experience more outbreaks.

He added that the centre recorded seven institutional or school outbreaks were reported, up from a weekly two to four cases in December.

Au reminded students with flu symptoms or fever not to go to school to reduce the risk of outbreaks.

The Hong Kong Observatory, meanwhile, issued the warning at 6am and said the weather was expected to be persistently cold over the next few days.