He said the public, especially parents, did not have to worry as it was a common infection and would emerge from time to time, with patients only needing monitoring and isolation.

“Cases of influenza will increase from time to time because the movement control order has been lifted.

“As we are reducing public health measures, such as physical distancing and so on, the number of infectious diseases is increasing.

“For the past two years, the number of cases decreased because we were confined at home and followed certain public health measures.

“The situation is still under control and there is nothing to worry about,” he told reporters after attending a PeKa B40 health screening programme here today.

He said there was no need to close schools at this time and the district health offices would always make a risk assessment on cases.

Khairy also said that in the event the number of cases is at an alarming level after the assessment is made, then certain measures will be implemented.

“However, cases such as influenza are common and seasonal. They come and go, so there is no need to worry too much,” he said.

Yesterday, the media reported that the Selangor health department had detected an increase in cases of infections such as ILI in educational institutions, especially in boarding schools over the past two weeks.