Japan hit by nationwide flu outbreak
Japan's health ministry says flu patient numbers have topped the outbreak threshold in all 47 prefectures, with Okinawa above the warning level of 30.
Japan is in the grip of a nationwide influenza outbreak, with the average number of flu patients per monitored medical institution now above 1.0 in all 47 prefectures, the health ministry announced on Friday.
The ministry said flu patients at about 3,000 regularly monitored institutions across the country averaged 7.17 in the week through Sunday. That was slightly down from 8.48 the previous week, but a ministry official cautioned that “the decline may be temporary, given trends in previous years”.
Okinawa recorded by far the highest level, at 42.50 patients per institution — above the ministry’s warning level of 30. It was followed by Saitama at 14.17, Ibaraki at 12.50, Aichi at 12.33 and Gifu at 10.18, all exceeding the alert level of 10.
The ministry is urging the public to take basic precautions against infection, such as handwashing and covering the mouth when coughing.
Sources: Jiji Press via Nippon.com (article); The Japan Times (article)
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