Swine flu claimed two more victims in Pune after the doctor who was battling for his life died on Monday morning and a chemist died on Monday late evening. Two more are in a critical condition in Pune and the number of patients testing positive in Pune has climbed to 246. This finally pushed the state government to react and take drastic steps to control the spread of the H1N1 pandemic outbreak in Pune, which has now become the epicentre for the H1N1 virus.
Pune?s guardian minister, Ajit Pawar, ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and private training and coaching classes in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad for the next seven days. Multiplexes and cinema halls have been told to close shutters for the next three days, Pawar said at a press conference in Pune on Monday. Kids and young adults have been hit most by the H1N1 virus and there was a lot of dithering among local administrators on shutting schools and colleges. The first casualty was 14-year-old student Reeda Shaikh, followed by a teacher, Sanjay Kokare and Babasaheb Mane.
The days of closure could be further extended depending on the situation. People have also been asked to stay away from malls, public parks and picnic spots and keep children indoors. This decision was taken after a meeting of the government and civic bodies in the district in Pune on Monday. The district collector?s office has been made responsible for dealing with the swine flu crisis.
The institutions that run schools and colleges have been asked to disinfect their premises during this break. The minister said the loss of these seven academic days would be adjusted during Diwali holidays so that students don?t suffer.
The central government has supplied 10 lakh Tamiflu tablets to Maharashtra. Of this, one lakh tablets have been sent to Pune. Further, the government has also let private hospitals treat H1N1 patients. Till now the patients were being directed to the three government hospitals but with numbers rising and people
rushing in to get tested, the government has put nine more private hospitals on this list. This includes most of the large hospitals in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad and the criteria used were the intensive care facilities at these hospitals.
Meanwhile panic has turned Pune into a city of a masked populace and stores have run out of quality masks.
