Kindergarten and primary school classes in Hong Kong will resume on 26 February following last week’s premature closing for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Local paediatricians have credited the school closures with helping to mitigate the spread of influenza across Hong Kong.
Minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee’s comments came more than a week after the government decided to shut the city’s 1,600 kindergartens, primary and special-needs schools to stop the spread of the outbreak.
Most schools were expected to resume classes on Monday, 26 February.
“I went to a hospital on Thursday to understand the situation and there were paediatricians telling me that after the implementation of the early school holiday measure, they immediately felt the number of admissions had reduced,” she said.
For this reason, the measure had been effective, Chan said.
The food and health minister added that the government would continue to monitor the flu situation and the number of hospital admissions.
According to official figures, from the start of the current winter influenza season on 7 January to 14 February, 174 cases had proven fatal, including two students, reported the South China Morning Post.
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