In view of the latest flu situation, all kindergartens and childcare centres will start their Chinese New Year holidays on January 26 to help prevent the spread of influenza.

Making the announcement today, Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan said the decision was made after this morning’s interdepartmental meeting to review the latest flu situation, which she had chaired.

Representatives from the Centre for Health Protection, the Hospital Authority, the Education Bureau and the Social Welfare Department participated in the meeting.

Prof Chan said a basket of factors was considered, including the latest flu surveillance situation, the number of kindergartens and childcare centres reporting outbreaks, as well as the number of admissions to Hospital Authority paediatric wards and their occupancy rates.

“We believe that this decision would be a preventive measure for the current flu situation, in particular in the kindergartens, as well as the childcare centres, where the children are usually below 6 years old.”

Kindergarten and childcare centres should remain open for those families who may have difficulty in taking care of their children during the non-scheduled school holiday period, the Education Bureau added.