The Centre for Health Protection today announced the end of the influenza season which started in early April.

The flu season began in early April with activity peaking late that month and returning to the baseline level in the week ending May 20.

According to the latest surveillance data, the percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for seasonal influenza viruses peaked at 18.2% in the week ending April 22, and declined to 3.83% in the week ending May 20.

The predominating virus of this seven-week long season was influenza A(H1).

The admission rate with the principal diagnosis of influenza in public hospitals also decreased from a peak of 1.13 per 10,000 population to 0.23 per 10,000 population.

As for the local COVID-19 situation, the number of newly recorded positive nucleic acid test laboratory detections in the last seven days, from May 18 to 24, ranged from 467 to 554 with no significant upward trend.

This revealed that the upward trend of local COVID-19 activity has significantly slowed, the centre said.

Moreover, 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 people with disabilities.

Although the influenza season has ended, the centre reminded people to maintain personal, hand and environmental hygiene to prevent respiratory infections including COVID-19.

It stressed that it will continue to closely monitor the situation of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and the risks with an emphasis on the protection of high-risk groups.