NEW DELHI: A high level health official in the government of north-western Indian state of Punjab announced yesterday that the death toll due to Swine Flu in the state has reached 61 people in the last two months alone.
The Press Trust of India quoting Punjab health ministry’s Nodal Officer for Swine Flu Dr Gagandeep Singh Grover as saying that “as 30 people succumbed to death due to H1N1 virus in the last one month alone, the death toll from the swine flu in the state has reached 61 people this season.” He added that the total number of people infected by the H1N1 virus stands at 163.
Most affected districts in Punjab include Bathinda, Ferozepur, Faridkot and Ludhiana, the official said, underlining that his government is planning to issue a notification to make reporting the disease to the health department mandatory in order to help he authorities to monitor the disease and provide early warning of possible outbreaks. Hariyana Health Ministry had earlier announced that the Swine flu claimed 34 lives in the state while other North Indian states of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh also witnessed the swine flu claiming many lives in addition to a number of affected people. This led the Health Ministry under the central government issue medical advisory to all the state governments seeking to strengthen the precautionary measures against the deadly disease. Last year, Swine flu had claimed more than 1,500 lives in India in the first three months of 2015. —KUNA
