Chief hygiene officer says flu epidemic beginning to recede

The country’s Chief Hygiene Officer, Vladimír Valenta, has said that the flu epidemic that has hit the country in recent weeks is showing signs of abating. This week saw the first drop in the number of overall cases; the number of those suffering acute respiratory illness dropped by 3.4 percent and flu by 4.3 percent, he confirmed. The chief hygiene officer said on that the number of those ill in the epidemic dropped in all regions of the Czech Republic this week, among all age groups. At the same time serious cases remain: 68 out of 350 people died from complications related to the flu or respiratory illness.