Swine flu menace: Gujarat government seeks Centre's help

A state-level team, headed by Rupani, was on a tour of four cities- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot- in Gujarat to take stock of the swine flu situation.

Vadodara, Aug 17: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday said he has requested the Centre to send a team of medical experts to the state to suggest steps to prevent the spread of the Swine Flu, which has claimed over 200 lives this year.

Rupani was in Vadodara to take stock of the situation as eight people in the city have succumbed to H1N1 virus infection so far this year.

"Swine flu has claimed the lives of more than 200 people and 2,100 positive cases have been reported in the state so far, of which about 1,200 cases are reported from the four cities of Vadodara, Surat, Ahmedabad and Rajkot," he told PTI after visiting the isolation ward in Sir Sayajirao General Hospital here.

"Hospitals in the state are equipped with ventilators, oxygen cylinders, and there is enough stock of tablets and other medicines. The government hospitals have set up isolation wards. But despite all these measures, we have requested the Centre to dispatch its team to the state to take stock of the situation and recommend ways to prevent the spread of the disease," Rupani said.

The government has set up isolation wards at all the government and civic hospitals and testing of the swine flu cases are being done in at least nine labs in the state, which was not possible till several years ago as the reports in this regard used to be sent to the labs located in Pune in Maharashtra for confirming the case of swine flu, he said.

A state-level team, headed by Rupani, was on a tour of four cities- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot- in Gujarat to take stock of the swine flu situation. As per a statement issued by the government yesterday, swine flu has killed 208 people in Gujarat since January this year and 994 patients infected with H1N1 virus were undergoing treatment in hospitals.

PTI