Schools are raising their alertness and increasing the frequency of sanitation amid the current influenza outbreak, which has resulted in at least one fatality, the chair of the Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) Schools Council said.

The remarks by Dion Chen, also the principal of Ying Wa College, came after health officials on Wednesday reported that more than 580 schools encountered various degrees of a flu outbreak since the start of the academic year in September.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau warned that the winter and summer flu seasons could overlap and called on parents to get flu jabs for their kids as soon as possible, saying the vaccination rate among infants remains relatively low.

"Since September, when the summer flu season began and schools reopened, there have been 12 children who, in less than two months, required hospitalisation due to severe flu, including admission to the intensive care unit, and one of them died," Lo said.

"This once again highlights the need for more schools to promptly arrange for pupils to receive the flu vaccine, and parents should do the same for their children."

Chen said schools are taking extra precautions by following the Centre for Health Protection’s (CHP) advice and closely monitoring any potential outbreaks.

“Especially like students when they come into the school, we need to take their temperature and also advise the parents to take the temperature before the students leave home,” he said.

“And at the same time, we also closely observe the attendance rate and see how many students are absent due to flu symptoms. If it is a situation that we see a possible outbreak, we have to report to the CHP and let them know and then also ask them for advice.”