Swine Flu outbreak in India with over 16,000 affected & section 144 imposed in Ahmedabad

Feb 25, 2015 - 8:03 am EST @theindpanorama India 0
Rajasthan continues to be the worst affected state, with 234 deaths till February 24 while the number of affected persons has risen to 4,884.
Rajasthan continues to be the worst affected state, with 234 deaths till February 24 while the number of affected persons has risen to 4,884.

Swine flu claimed 51 more lives, taking the death toll to 926. The H1N1 virus has, so far, affected more than 16,000 people across the country.

According to collated data from the Health Ministry till February 24 this year, the total number of deaths due to the disease has reached 926 while the number of affected persons in various states stood at 16,235. The data released by the ministry on Tuesday had showed that 875 people had died due to the disease, while 15,413 people had been affected.
 
Rajasthan continues to be the worst affected state, with 234 deaths till February 24 while the number of affected persons has risen to 4,884.  
 
Ahmedabad district collector invoked the Criminal Procedure Code’s Section 144 here on Tuesday, prohibiting mass gatherings without prior permission in order to prevent swine flu, an official statement stated.

“It has come to our notice that swine flu cases have been on the rise in Gujarat including Ahmedabad. The virus, which causes swine flu, is contagious and generally infects people by entering through nostrils and mouth mostly at crowded places,” the Ahmedabad district collectorate statement said.

 
In Maharashtra, the death toll has risen to 112 while the number of affected persons was 1,221. Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab too have witnessed 54, 39 and 38 deaths respectively. In Delhi, the Health Ministry said that although the number of deaths is eight, there has been a rise in the number of affected persons which currently stood at 2,456, reported PTI.

Assuring that the government was taking a serious view of the issue, Health Minister J. P. Nadda warned people to be careful but said there was no need for panic as medicines and facilities to tackle the disease were in place.

While responding to members’ concerns in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Nadda said the government would leave no stone unturned to tackle the issue while assuring that there was no shortage of medicines and swine flu testing facilities were being provided free of cost at specified government hospitals.

Upping the ante against the government over the rising death toll due to swine flu, Congress accused it of approaching the issue in a “casual manner”.

“Health Min statement on Swine Flu confirms our fear that government is taking a casual approach on an issue that qualifies as a public health crisis,” tweeted Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

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