Hong Kong enters summer flu season as Covid infections also climb

Hong Kong health authorities have called on the public to stay vigilant as the city has entered the summer flu season, with Covid-19 cases

He noted that it was difficult to predict how long the season would last, even though the most common strain in the city was the H3 subtype of influenza A, similar to last year.

“So far, around 60 per cent of the infection cases are caused by influenza A subtype H3, similar to last September and December. The vaccines are effective. However, we also observe cases from subtype H1 and influenza B,” he said.

“We will closely monitor the situation. Generally, the summer influenza season lasts for eight to 12 weeks. We expect that influenza activity remains at a relatively active level in August and September.”

Au added that the city generally entered its winter flu season in the first quarter, but this year had defied the trend, as the previous flu season only ended at the beginning of January.