Flu Outbreak Continuing for Unusually Long Period in Japan

Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--In an unusual development, the flu outbreak that started late last year in Japan is still continuing and spreading.

Usually, a flu outbreak begins in winter and subsides in spring. The current situation comes apparently because people are less immune after they did not contract influenza amid movement restrictions related to COVID-19 and because cross-border travel is increasing.

Some schools have been temporarily closed due to rises in flu infection cases. Experts are on high alert as the country may see more flu patients than usual from now.

The health ministry receives reports on flu patient numbers from some 5,000 regularly monitored medical institutions across Japan. If the number of patients exceeds 1.0 per institution a week, that indicates an outbreak, according to the ministry.

No major outbreak has occurred after strict infection control measures were implemented following the discovery of the country's first COVID-19 case in January 2020.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]