Alarmed after seven Swine Flu deaths and 60 positive cases so far, Punjab Government has sets up isolation wards at three Government Medical Colleges, 22 district hospitals and 41 sub-divisional hospitals, besides announcing that the treatment of all suspected and confirmed cases is being provided free of cost.
Swinging into action in view of an acute upsurge in cases of Influenza A H1N1, the state Health Minister Brahm Mohindra on Thursday held a high level meeting with the senior officers of the Health Department to review the state’s preparedness and actions being taken for management of swine flu.
Mohindra said that the guidelines for management of Influenza A H1N1 have already been circulated to all the districts. Separate isolation wards for management of Influenza A H1N1 have been established at three Government Medical Colleges, 22 District Hospitals and 41 Sub-divisional Hospitals of the State, he said.
He said that testing of the cases is being done at GMC Amritsar, Patiala and PGIMER Chandigarh and this test is free of cost. Moreover, all the treatment of Influenza A H1N1 is being provided free of cost to all the suspected and confirmed cases in these government hospitals, he added.
“In 2019, 140 suspected cases were tested free of cost for Influenza A H1N1, and out of these, 60 cases have been found to be positive. Seven patients with complications and ongoing other illnesses have died in the State,” he said.
Mohindra said that the teams of the Health Department visited all the patients and 435 close contacts of these cases were also treated free of cost.
At the same time, the Minister appealed to the people of the State that if a patient is suffering from flu like symptoms, that is cough, cold with high grade fever, he or she should report to a government hospital immediately so that suspected cases could be treated at the earliest.
He again appealed that if people will report early to government hospitals and are treated adequately, the severity of the illness and mortality due to Influenza A H1N1 can be reduced and prevented.