The Centre for Health Protection recorded nine hand, foot and mouth disease outbreaks involving 24 people between October 11 and 13.
Weekly outbreak figures for residential institutions and schools reported by the centre rose from eight, involving 27 people, in September 13–19 to 20, involving 48 people, in October 4–10.
The centre’s sentinel monitoring in childcare centres and kindergartens also showed a significant increase in activity over the previous week. On October 14, it said it would write to schools urging them to note the latest situation.
The centre reminded schools and residential institutions to report outbreaks promptly and urged parents to monitor the situation closely.