Press Releases

SFH on influenza

Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session after attending radio programme this morning (March 22):

Reporter: On class resumption, how would you assess the current threat to kids over the flu outbreak?

Secretary for Food and Health: According to the Centre for Health Protection, the trend is still on a high level although the number of kids being hospitalised is slightly decreasing. We feel that the schools could be resumed after the existing arrangements of the Easter holidays. The important thing is after the holidays, our schools would like to have some guidelines on when they should suspend schools in future and what would be the advisory given to parents and children. My only important advice for parents is keep your children at home if they have fever or any serious symptoms of flu, so that they would not infect other kids.

Reporter: You have talked about guidelines, do you mean individual school in the future could decide on their own when to suspend classes?

Secretary for Food and Health: We haven't got into details yet because we have yet to have meeting with the Education Bureau.

(Please also refer to the Chinese session of the transcript)


Ends/Saturday, March 22, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:46

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