Swine flu toll in Andhra rises to 13

HYDERABAD - The swine flu death toll in Andhra Pradesh rose to 13 with the death of one more person Tuesday.

A woman hailing from Warangal district died of swine flu at the government-run Gandhi Hospital, taking the death toll to 13. This is the ninth swine flu death in the state in last four days.

Worried over the mounting number of swine flu cases, the state government has warned private hospitals of stringent action under the Public Health Act if they refuse treatment or guidance to suspected swine flu patients.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah has urged the people not to panic over the spread of swine flu and appealed to the media, particularly the electronic media to create awareness among the people and educate them on the precautions to be taken.

He said the government was fully alive to the situation and taking all precautions and initiated all measures to contain the spread of the disease.

“The entire government machinery has been geared up to take all possible measures and doctors all over the state, particularly in Hyderabad, have been told to help the people in distress,” a statement from the chief minister’s office said.

Rosaiah said medicines are being made available in the required quantities and doctors will be provided with masks.

The chief minister said the government was making efforts to procure as many ventilators and beds as possible to treat the swine flu in as many hospitals as possible and requested the private hospitals to cooperate also.

The chief minister said he was reviewing the situation three to four times in a day with the officials concerned and experts in the field and alerting the health department accordingly.