An Invercargill rest home has been advising visitors to stay away after an outbreak of the flu in the past week.

A sign at Clare House in Waikiwi says there has been an outbreak of the flu, most residents were unwell and visitors are advised to enter at their own risk.

Clare House and Rose Lodge Rest Home and Retirement Village, on Tweed St, are both part of Greenvale Group Limited.

Greenvale Group Limited declined to comment on the flu outbreak.

Rose Lodge manager Janine Lovett said they did not have the flu present at their rest home.

Chamber of Commerce Southland CEO Richard Hay said he have not had any reports of businesses being badly affected by staff having flu.

“People with it are still working and taking whatever they need to keep them going. The flu is widespread. We are affected ourselves, but people are soldiering on.”

SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said a small number of staff and students were off with the flu but it hadn’t caused any classes to be closed.

Southland and Otago had the third-highest rate of flu-like illness presentations in New Zealand, an ESR flu update for the last week of July showed.

Rebecca Wilson is an SIT journalism student

- © Fairfax NZ News

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