Nine more Hong Kong flu patients die, bringing death toll to 32 for 2018, as Macau leader also sick
Chief executive of casino hub Fernando Chui out of action for five days, as elderly and children fall victim to surge in flu cases
Nine more flu patients have died in Hong Kong this week, bringing the death toll since the start of the year to 32.
The city’s Centre for Health Protection revealed the loss of life on Thursday as the government of neighbouring Macau disclosed that the casino hub’s leader Fernando Chui Sai-on had also come down with the virus.
Chui has been on leave since Tuesday and will take a total of five days off to rest.
The latest deaths follow Hong Kong’s first fatal case of child influenza in the year, which was made public on Monday. The girl was three years old.
This week, between Sunday and Wednesday, 18 adult flu patients were recorded as severe cases in Hong Kong. Since the official start of the winter flu season on January 7, some 41 adult sufferers have been classified as severe. Twenty-three of these died. Most of the deaths were elderly patients, aged 65 or above.
