JOIN USThe victim was a 70-year-old Parubai Shinde, who was admitted to Aundh hospital four days back following high fever and other symptoms of swine flu. She died past midnight.
Additional principal secretary (Health) Sharvari Gokhale told a news conference in the secretariat that 69 patients with confirmed swine flu infection were under treatment in the state till Friday morning.
In Pune, 830 swine flu patients had been admitted to government hospitals, out of which 629 patients were discharged after treatment. There were 43 patients under treatment in Pune as on Friday, out of which 26 patients had been infected with H1N1 virus and the reports of throat swab of the remaining 17 patients were yet to be received. The cultural capital is witnessing an undeclared curfew from Friday as most of the shopkeepers have downed their shutters in response to shut down calls given by merchants’ associations.
All educational institutions are already closed for a week, and cinema halls too are not open. Pune’s municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagde discounted the ‘emergency’ situation in Pune and said after testing around 50,000 suspected swine flu patients, only 396 patients were confirmed H1N1 infected.
The population of the city is around 35 lakh and the percentage of swine flu suspected patients was only 1.4 per cent, while the number of confirmed patients was even ‘minuscule’, he pointed out.
In Mumbai, the flu threat had an impact on the Janmashtami celebrations also, as the dahi handi programmes received low to moderate response from spectators.
Many social groups cancelled the festivities, while those who organised the programmes were disappointed. The state government had declared a holiday for all government and non-government offices. Office goers preferred to stay inside their homes.
Famous hill stations and sea resorts wore deserted look as hotel operators have closed their premises for a week for tourists.