The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued a yellow phase-three travel alert for Hong Kong Thursday over concern about the first confirmed indigenous case of swine flu in the Chinese special administrative region. MAC Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun said the council decided to raise the previous yellow phase-two travel advisory for Hong Kong to yellow phase-three after an indigenous case of swine flu, known officially as influenza A (H1N1), was confirmed there earlier that day. The Hong Kong authorities later announced that all elementary schools, kindergartens and nursery schools would close for two weeks from the following day. Liu noted that the issuance of the phase-three alert advises people traveling to Hong Kong to take health precautions. As of June 10, 74 countries had officially reported 27,737 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 141 deaths, according to World Health Organization data. 