Watched by his mother, a kindergarten student plays at a school in Hong Kong on Friday. As of Friday, all primary schools and kindergartens were ordered to shut down for two weeks after the city confirmed the first cluster case of swine flu on Thursday. China Daily

HONG KONG: Three more domestic cases of A (H1N1) influenza were confirmed Friday. The government warned that more local cases are expected as Hong Kong prepares to confront a seasonal flu peak during the summer.

Two of the three new cases were family members of patients among those infected at St Paul's Convent School.

They were a 53-year-old man who is the father of a confirmed student in the school and a 13-year-old girl, who is the sister of another confirmed patient from the school.

A third local case involved a 13-year-old girl who studies in the school.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the chance for the index patients to infect others was relatively slight.

In response to the reports that some students at St Paul's Convent School had been to a karaoke lounge with a previously confirmed patient, CHP Controller Thomas Tsang said it is unlikely that they would come down with the virus since the patient became symptomatic several days after the gathering.

Meanwhile, North Point Alliance Church confirmed that one of its pastors had been confirmed as an imported case of swine flu. The churchwoman had been in contact and breakfasted with the congregation during the morning worship Wednesday for about two hours. The church has reported the close contacts to the CHP.

The 54-year-old pastor stayed in the United States for five months and returned to Hong Kong June 9.

The church cancelled all gatherings until June 14, except Saturday and Sunday services. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department cleansed and disinfected the shopping center where the church is located.

Annie Cheung, a worshiper at the church, said she was not worried. "I will go to church as usual," she said.

The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said the church has adopted a series of precautionary measures. Worshipers and priests will wear masks during confession.

Seven more imported cases have been reported, from the Philippines, the United States and Canada.

As the World Health Organization raised the alert to the highest level, Tsang said Hong Kong is well-prepared for the global pandemic and is moving to a mitigation phase.

"The pandemic is well underway and it's an irreversible process. We will place more emphasis on providing treatment and medication, and scale down the containment measures," he said.

However, Tsang cautioned that the first cluster of domestic cases reveals that the virus has taken root in the community.

"Our imminent challenge is probably the upcoming summer season. There will be increasing numbers of imported cases as well as local cases. A higher activity of influenza during summer is expected," he said.

He added the flu peak may come later this month at the earliest. He did not rule out the possibility that there will be more serious cases or even deaths.

After the closure of junior schools, the government also suspended some services, such as the dental care service for primary students, student health services and some mother and child services.

Tsang said these are not emergency services and the halt aims at preventing gatherings of young children.

The Social Welfare Department has allocated HK$10 million to more than 3,000 welfare service units to step up cleanliness and precautionary measures.

(HK Edition 06/13/2009 page1)