China’s H1N1 Flu Cases Double in Recent Weeks

The spread of H1N1 flu virus has prompted many schools in China to temporarily shut down. Students are being kept at the schools, and those with flu symptoms have been quarantined.

At Qingdao Technological University in Shandong Province, 20 new cases of H1N1 were confirmed last week. More than 500 students have fevers. Classes there have now been suspended, and the university will be closed for one week.

One university staff member told Sound of Hope Radio that the H1N1 virus is so widespread, they have stopped reporting the cases.

“If they have very high fevers we will send them to the hospital. Others with fevers will be kept under quarantine at school for observation. Now there are not many people left in the school who do not have [the H1N1 virus], most people have it to some degree. Because there are too many cases around the country, we have stopped reporting the cases.”

China’s Ministry of Health has put the official number of confirmed H1N1 cases at over 33,000. This is more than double the number of cases recorded just one month ago.

The World Health Organization announced last Friday that nearly 5,000 people around the world have died from the H1N1 flu virus this year. In China, there have been three officially confirmed deaths from the flu.

In Beijing, authorities have begun providing free vaccines for people at high risk of infection. These include public health workers, children in elementary schools and the elderly. But the group hardest hit so far—high school and college students—will not receive free vaccines.

(NTDTV)