A 26-year-old teacher became the first swine flu fatality in Bangalore on Thursday, while the pandemic claimed three more lives in Pune , taking the total death toll in the city to 13 and 20 across the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government is doing its best and people should not panic.
The issue of rise in flu cases in India was discussed threadbare at the Cabinet meeting in New Delhi, during which Singh asked health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to work towards restoring confidence of people and ensuring that they do not panic.
Expressing concern over the swine flu situation, Singh is understood to have said that this was a major problem before the country and the government is doing its best.
Azad told reporters after the meeting, ?The Centre and state governments are taking all possible measures. For the past one week, we have been reserving places in government and some private hospitals. We are also looking for a few private laboratories.?
The teacher Roopa worked in a private school and was undergoing treatment at Bangalore?s St Philomena hospital for respiratory disorders, health authorities said. A mother of two aged six and four, Roopa was hospitalised on August 7 with pneumonia, and later tested positive for swine flu. She was also suffering from high blood sugar, authorities said. Roopa died on Wednesday.
Following her death, the authorities have advised the school, Sudarshan Vidyalaya, where she was taking classes till last week, to declare a break and subject students and her colleagues to flu tests as a precautionary measure.
In Pune, Archana Kolhe, 37, a resident of Ranjangaon, 70 km from Pune city, succumbed to the virus at 3.45 pm. The other two victims? Bharati Goel, 75, and nine-months-old Hritvik Kamble are suspected to have died of swine flu. Their reports are awaited, Mahesh Zagade, Pune Municipal Corporation commissioner said.
Multiplexes, schools and colleges will remain closed till August 18, Zagade added. The administration has advised citizens to stay away from crowded areas avoid malls and other open places in the city. When asked if the Mexico Model of shutting down the entire city would be followed in Pune, Zagade said focus would remain on building confidence among people and providing more screening facilities. Treatment is being started for category C and B patients at the screening center itself without waiting for the swab results to come in, he said.
The situation has improved because of these measures and the administration is fully geared up to meet any eventuality, he maintained. Pune district has a stock of 2 lakh Tamiflu tablets and there are enough stocks in the city, Zagade said.
As many as 11,061 patients were tested on Thursday. Pune has recorded 396 H1N1 positive cases. Around 377 patients have been discharged after treatment while 1,267 patients tested negative for H1N1 virus. At present, 122 patients are being treated for swine flu. Of these 3 patients are on ventilator support. Zagade said 1,000 additional masks have been requisitioned for the medical staff on duty at the screening centres.
Besides Pune, one person each has succumbed to the virus in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Nashik, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram and two in Mumbai. Asking people not to panic, the health minister also said, ?Only those who show symptoms need to wear masks to protect others.?