Lawmaker Seeks Action To Stop Flu Closing Schools

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen is urging the government to rethink its flu vaccination policy after a surge in flu cases forced the early closure of kindergartens and children's centres ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

The government announced on Thursday that classes would stop across the city a week early, after 370 kindergatens and children's centres closed due to the flu outbreak. Mr Ip said better vaccination arrangements could stop the problem from recurring.

"If the government does a good job in flu prevention, leading to less people being infected or requiring hospital admission, the resources saved may be greated than the annual expenditure on the purchase and distribution of vaccines," Ip said on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong programme.

"Medical staff may not have to suffer every year and school campuses need not become heavily-hit disaster areas year after year."

The flu crunch also saw schools close early for last year's Lunar New Year holiday. The large number of flu cases this year has also left hospitals packed beyond capacity, sparking protests from medical staff unhappy at the government's failure to recruit more medics.