Philippine health authorities confirmed on Sunday 36 more patients infected with the A/H1N1 flu virus, bringing the total cases to 147 in the country, Xinhua reported.
The National Epidemiology Center, an attached agency of the Philippine Department of Health, said that three of the 36 new cases were foreigners.
On the same day, the health authorities declared a community- level outbreak of the A/H1N1 influenza virus at a farming village in Nueva Ecija province, about 170 km northeast of Manila. Ninety- two contacts of 11 children tested positive for the virus there have exhibited symptoms of the illness, said Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center.
The authorities expect more cases to be confirmed in the coming days.
The Chinese mainland confirmed 20 new A/H1N1 flu cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 185 with no fatalities.
The Chinese capital Beijing and provinces of Fujian and Guangdong reported four new cases each from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday, the Ministry of Health said in a late Sunday statement.
Meanwhile, three new cases were reported in Hubei Province, two in Zhejiang Province and one each in Hunan, Shandong and Shanghai.
As of 10 p.m. Saturday, 74 countries had confirmed 29,669 A/H1N1 flu cases, with 145 deaths, the statement said citing a World Health Organization report.
Eight more people were tested positive for the A/H1N1 influenza virus in Hong Kong on Sunday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the city to 92, local health authorities said in a bulletin released in the evening.
Among the eight new cases, five were imported. The first case involved a 17-year-old woman studying in the United States, who returned to Hong Kong from New York on June 8.
The second case involved a 16-year-old boy studying in Los Angeles. He returned to Hong Kong via Seoul on Friday by taking a flight of Korean Air (flight no. KE607) and sat in row 16 of the flight.
The third case involved a 39-year-old man who returned to Hong Kong from Bangkok on last Wednesday. He had onset of sore throat, fever and myalgia on June 11 and was taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for isolation on June 12.
The fourth case involved a 15-year-old girl, who arrived in Hong Kong with her mother from Los Angeles on Sunday by taking a flight of Cathay Pacific (CX883).
The fifth imported case involved a 33-year-old woman who returned to Hong Kong from the Philippines on Saturday by taking a flight of Philippine Airlines (flight no. PR306) and sat in row 70.
The other three cases involved three 13-year-old girls studying in St Paul's Convent School where 16 students or their family members had been confirmed to be infected with A/H1N1 flu since June 10. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government made the decision last Thursday to close all primary schools and kindergartens for two weeks on the first cluster of local cases.
The Department of Health is now tracing passengers sitting in rows 16-18 of KE607 arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, those sitting in rows 57-61 of CX883 arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday, and those sitting in row 68-72 of PR306 arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday, and crew members of the flights concerned who had served the affected sections of the cabins concerned as well as close contacts of the patients.
Two school children were confirmed to have been infected by the A/H1N1 flu virus in Finland, local media reported Sunday.
The two children of the same family returned to Finland with their parents from the United States on Friday. They are now in good condition.
All passengers that traveled with the two in the same flight were requested to have self-observation for a week after the trip and contact health centers if necessary.