Hong Kong's flu death toll reaches 196

Another 15 people have died of severe flu, bringing the death toll this year to 196, said Hong Kong health officials on Saturday afternoon.

The Center for Health Protection said 16 new cases have been reported from Friday noon to Saturday noon among which 15 patients died. None of them is under the age of 18.

The number of elderly people being admitted to hospital with flu has eased, but the number of children under five went up slightly in the past week, according to health authorities.

The H3N2 outbreak started on Jan. 2 and has led to the hospitalization of over 280 patients thus far. That compares with 266 cases including 133 deaths registered during the same period of last year.