The Health Bureau (SSM) said in a statement Monday that the number of influenza patients seeking treatment at the public Conde de Sao Januário Hospital Centre has decreased over the past week.
The bureau also said that there was no need for local schools to bring schoolchildren’s Chinese New Year holidays forward because of the flu wave.
The statement noted that the number of patients, both adults and minors, with flu-like symptoms seeking treatment in the emergency department at the public hospital has decreased over the past week.
The statement also said that the number of institutional outbreaks of influenza in schools has recently also decreased, from 16 reported cases during the third week of this year to nine cases last week.
The statement also said that the inpatient bed occupancy rate at the public hospital has decreased to 90 percent from the recent peak of 95 percent.
The statement said that the ratios of residents and schoolchildren having received flu vaccinations are among the highest in Asia, adding that more than 70 percent of pupils in the city’s kindergartens and primary schools have had their seasonal flu shots.
The statement said that this was the probable reason that the current flu wave has been relatively mild compared with neighbouring regions.
