HK clears 1st round of flu control

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

Health authorities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have lifted a quarantine on the Metropark Hotel.

This marks the end of quarantine arrangements following the first confirmed case of influenza A-H1N1 in the city.

HealthauthoritiesintheHongKongSpecialAdministrative
RegionhaveliftedaquarantineontheMetroparkHotel.
(APPhoto/KinCheung)

A total of 286 people, including tourists and hotel staff were put under quarantine, after a 25 year-old Mexican was confirmed to have A-H1N1 flu on May 1st.

Some guests had initially complained about being trapped, but with the door opened, some seemed upbeat.

60 of the people went directly to airport and ports. Those who chose to stay in Hong Kong will receive two free nights in another hotel, and tickets to Disneyland and Ocean Park.

Donald Tsang, HK SAR Chief Executive, said, "Most of the affected people have shown their understanding of what we've done. I saw they hung out "I love Hong Kong". I was deeply moved. I want to extend my greatest appreciation for them."

The Metropark Hotel will undergo a thorough disinfection after all the guests left. Hong Kong health authorities say although they've succeeded in preventing the spread of the disease, the city should remain vigilant.

The Mexican patient, the first confirmed case in Hong Kong, was discharged from hospital on Friday evening.

No one is in isolation in Hong Kong at the moment.

WHO: AH1N1 flu cases rise to 2500

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

Now for more of the latest figures on confirmed human flu cases, from the World Health Organization.

As of 1600 GMT on Friday, 25 countries have officially reported 2,500 confirmed cases, including 46 deaths.

PassengersfromtheU.S.wearingfacemasksarriveat
NaritainternationalairportinNaritaMay9,2009.
REUTERS/IsseiKato

That's 116 more cases than the day before. The figure does not include the first death in Canada on Friday.

Meanwhile, three Japanese males have been confirmed as the country's first cases. They are a high school teacher and two students who had been on a school trip in Canada.

The three are in hospital and 49 others who arrived in Japan on the same flight have been kept apart in a facility near Tokyo's Narita airport.

Flu cases continue to grow worldwide, WHO keeps alert

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases continued to rise worldwide, especially in the United States, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has left its alert level unchanged.

According to the latest figures, over 3,000 cases have now been confirmed in 27 countries around the world.

The confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases in the United States rose sharply on Friday to 1,639 in 43 of its 50 states, including two deaths, overtaking Mexico as the country having the most confirmed cases in the world.

The update registered a sharp increase from the case count on Thursday when confirmed cases were 896, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

However, the jump "does not reflect a speed-up of the epidemic," said Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the CDC. The number of cases may jump quickly day to day as a backlog of likely cases need to be confirmed through extra testing, he said.

About 3.5 percent of the cases have been sick enough to be admitted to hospitals and health officials say the rate will continue to fall as more screening is done in the community.

U.S. President Barack Obama Friday urged Americans to take persistent precaution on the A/H1N1 flu, even though he said the virus was not as virulent as people first feared.

Confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu surge to 23 in Florida

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

HOUSTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases in the southern U.S. state of Florida has surged from 2 to 23 in the past week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enabled states to test their own samples, clearing backlogs, a local health official said on Friday.

Last Friday, Governor Charlie Crist announced a 17-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy as the first two confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu, in the state.

Nationwide, the number of sick nearly doubled from Thursday to Friday, reaching 1,639, in 43 states. The Florida Department of Health said new test kits from the CDC were being used at its four state labs, which are in Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville and Pensacola.

Tim O'Connor, health department spokesman, said that positive cases were confirmed in 11 counties, including Broward, Indian River and Okeechobee. While Palm Beach County wasn't among those with confirmed A/H1N1 influenza cases, it had one probable case, he said, adding that individual has been treated and has already recovered.

The A/H1N1 flu strain is different to seasonal flu in key ways, the CDC reported in Friday's edition of its scientific journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

It's hitting young people hardest, rather than the very old and very young who are typically cut down by seasonal flu, the report said, adding that it's rising during what's typically the off season for flu.

In Mexico and the United States, the percentage of patients requiring hospitalization has been particularly high among persons aged 30-44 years, the journal editors wrote.

Local health officials said that Florida's flu cases mirror the national data -- the young, especially teenagers, have been hardest hit.

Broward County's 5 confirmed positive cases were between the ages of 3 and 26, while Indian River's case was in a 15-year-old, and Okeechobee's was in a 27-year-old, they explained.