Hong Kong closes schools due to flu

Hong Kong authorities today ordered all primary schools in the city to be closed for two weeks after the first cluster of local swine flu cases was found, chief executive Donald Tsang said.

The move came after 12 pupils at a city secondary school were found to have contracted the A (H1N1) virus, Tsang told reporters. Authorities were unable to identify the source of the infection, making it the first "cluster" of human swine flu cases in the city without a known link to those travelling overseas, prompting the closures.

All primary schools, kindergartens and special schools will be shut for 14 days from Friday in an effort to control the spread of the virus, Tsang said.