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.
“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.
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.
Be the first to comment