M A I N   N E W S

Pune into safe mode; schools, malls closed
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

A father-son duo wear protective masks as they wait for their turn for an H1N1 test outside a special screening centre at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi on Monday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Mumbai, August 10
The Maharashtra government, which is grappling with the rising swine flu cases, today announced closure of schools, colleges, movie theatres and shopping malls in Pune --- the worst affected city in the state --- and the neighbouring townships of Pimpri and Chinchwad as part of measures to halt the spread of virus.

While schools and colleges will be shut for a week, movie theatres and shopping malls will be closed for the next three days, the Guardian Minister for Pune Ajit Pawar said today.

“The decision was taken by district officials as part of a larger plan prepared by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan,” said Pawar, who is camping in Pune to oversee the district administration’s response to the crisis and is interacting with police, health, education and civic officials.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of swine flu spreading to newer areas. A girl student from a Thane school tested positive for the virus and has been admitted to the Kasturba Hospital, while two students from different Mumbai schools have also contracted the virus, health officials said.

The two institutions, St. Dominic Savio National Open School in Andheri East and Arya Vidya Mandir School in Juhu have been closed for a week. As public hospitals struggle to cope with an influx of patients, the state government today came out with guidelines for private hospitals to treat victims of swine flu. Chief Secretary Johny Joseph held a meeting with officials of prominent private hospitals to take stock of the facilities available to treat patients suffering from the H1N1 virus. A list of shortlisted hospitals will be announced shortly, health officials said.

The state government has also asked doctors to start administering Tamiflu without waiting for confirmation if they suspect that a patient is suffering from H1N1 infection. The government is also mulling distribution of Tamiflu tablets via the private sector to combat the crisis.

A total of 46 new patients have been admitted to hospitals across the state according to swine flu control room. Of these, 42 cases are in Pune and four in Mumbai. After meeting with health officials, the CM and city Mayor Shubha Raul appealed to people for observing festivals without assembling in public places. The festival season will be kicked off from Friday with the Janmashtami celebrations.

Health officials have mooted the idea of revellers wearing masks to prevent the virus from spreading. Raul, a doctor, also appealed to the people asking them to stay indoors. However, following pressure from political parties, Chavan said the government would not ban the festivities from taking place.

47 confirmed cases in Pune

At 8.30 pm on Monday, India had 959 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1, with Pune reporting the highest caseload at 47, followed by Mumbai (22), Delhi (16) Panchgani (6), Mangalore (3), Noida, Ajmer and Gurgaon one each. All 47 cases in Pune are indigenous. Of 22 cases in Mumbai, only one has a travel history to Austria. The 6 cases in Panchgani of (Satara district) are school contacts of the outbreak reported earlier. In Delhi, out of 14 cases, only four cases have travel history. Of the 959 infected, 563 have been treated and discharged. As of 8.30 pm today, there were six swine flu deaths.