Hong Kong flu season ends as patient numbers and hospital admissions drop, while rise of Covid cases slows
- Under 4 per cent of respiratory specimens handled by public laboratories tested positive for flu last week
- Number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise but health authorities say rate has ‘significantly slowed’
Hong Kong’s seven-week-long influenza season has come to an end with the number of cases continuing to drop, health authorities have announced.
The Centre for Health Protection on Thursday said the flu season, which started in early April and peaked near the end of the month, had finished as there was a downward trend in positive results in laboratory specimens and hospital admissions.
But it appealed to people to remain vigilant. “The public is reminded to continue to maintain personal, hand and environmental hygiene to prevent respiratory infections, including Covid-19,” the centre said.
Hong Kong’s flu season peaked faster than expected: health adviser
According to the latest surveillance statistics published on Thursday, just 3.83 per cent of respiratory specimens handled by public laboratories tested positive for flu last week, a drop from 18.2 per cent around a month ago.
A rate above 9.21 per cent would be considered the start of a flu season.
The number of people admitted to public hospitals with a primary flu diagnosis has also dropped to 0.23 per 10,000 people, down from the peak of 1.13.
Reports of outbreaks of flu-like illnesses in schools and care homes, and severe flu cases, have also decreased.
Hong Kong mask makers report ‘surprise’ uptick in sales as Covid, flu cases climb
Although Covid-19 cases continued to rise, the health authorities said the increase had “significantly slowed”.
There was “no significant upwards trend” for newly detected Covid-19 cases, which ranged from 467 to 554 daily in the week starting last Thursday.
There were also no signs of an increase in Covid-related hospital cases, which hovered around 384 to 489 daily in the seven days until Tuesday. Similarly, there was no rise in severe infections.
“In addition, there have been no major outbreaks in venues where targeted groups are concentrated, such as schools, residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities,” the centre said.
The Covid-19 subvariant XBB has become predominant in the city, but the centre said it had not posed a higher risk.
Hong Kong Hospital Authority steps up efforts to ease Covid burden on its facilities
“After analysing the clinical presentations of local cases, it does not show that infection with the XBB variant is more severe than infection with other Omicron variants,” it said.
