Authorities in Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv have closed all secondary schools due to a flu outbreak.
The city mayor's office announced on January 26 that schools will remain closed indefinitely as of January 27.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Health Minister Aleksandr Kvitashvili said that since the start of the year 83 people across Ukraine have been killed by flu, which he added had been officially categorized as an epidemic. He did not specify if the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, was the cause of any of the deaths, as some earlier Ukrainian media reports had said.
According to Kvitashvili, up to 2.6 million people have been treated in Ukraine for flu and other respiratory diseases since January 1.
Kvitashvili also said that an emergency team to tackle the problem has been established within his ministry, adding that its first gathering would be held later on January 26.
