Hong Kong's Department of Health said Thursday that there had been 189 newly confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1 in the 24 hours to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, leading to the total cases of the disease in the Chinese region to 3,459 so far.

But the department said that currently just 37 of the confirmed cases are staying in public hospitals for treatment. Among them, 32 cases are in stable condition, one in serious and four in critical condition.

Neighboring Macao also reported seven newly confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1 on Thursday, bringing the cumulative number of such cases in the region to 181 so far.

According to Macao's Health Bureau, some 14 patients who tested positive for the A/H1N1 flu virus were still receiving medical treatments at local hospitals, and their health conditions remained stable.

On Thursday evening, Indonesia's Health Ministry stated the Southeast Asian nation has confirmed 35 more persons positively infected by the A/H1N1 virus, putting the total cases to 479 in the country.

Director General of Disease Control and Environmental Health of the Ministry Prof. Dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama said that three of the newly infected persons were foreigners and the rest were Indonesian citizens.

Indonesia has been hit the hardest by avian influenza virus H5N1, the presence of the A/H1N1 virus has created fears that both viruses could conduct a multiple combine that could create a new type of virus with the speed similar to the A/H1N1 and the severity of attack equal to the H5N1 virus.

According to the World Health Organization, over 800 people have been killed by the A/H1N1 virus so far out of 134,503 cases found over the world.

Feared by the spread of the A/H1N1 virus, Vietnam, another Southeast Asian nation hit hard by the avian influenza virus H5N1,has urged its people to step up prevention against the new flu.

Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu said on Wednesday that only 34 out of 63 municipalities and provinces in the country have A/H1N1 prevention plans despite the fast spread of the disease.

In the past week, the disease has spread to many schools and office buildings across the country, said Trieu. So far, there have been 763 A/H1N1 flu cases reported in the country

The minister required A/H1N1 flu-hit provinces to set up temporary hospitals where they are most needed such as schools, offices and industrial zones.

The Health Ministry planned to buy more Tamiflu and Relenza drugs. It also asked manufacturers and importers to prepare enough medical masks to meet the increasing needs of health staff and the public.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2009)