Swine flu cases across the country have continued to swell. As per the official count on Thursday, the number of reported cases crossed the 11,000 mark and the death toll climbed to 700.
Alarmed by the rapid spread of the contagious disease, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth on Thursday asked the State Governments to ensure round-the-clock functioning of outbreak monitoring cells and necessary helplines to reach out to the people.
Seth chaired the National Crisis Management Committee to review the latest situation arising due to the spread of H1N1 flu virus in some States and the reported shortage of drugs and other logistics. The Cabinet Secretary also offered the States all the necessary Central assistance.
Stating that there was no need to panic, Seth also directed drug controllers of States to ensure availability of necessary vaccines, along with guidelines for vaccination and treatment protocol.
Health Secretary BP Sharma told the meeting that regular review of the situation in the affected States was being done via telephone and video-conferencing and his Ministry was assisting the States with the required material.
Chief Secretaries and medical heads of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi briefed Seth about the availability of drugs, testing kits, diagnostic labs, personal protective equipment and masks in their respective States.
“Maharashtra and Haryana have requested for some medicines to augment their emergency stocks of Tamiflu. These are being supplied to them by the Health Ministry,” a Health Ministry statement said.
Adding to the concerns of health authorities, fresh swine flu cases have been reported from new States like Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland. Authorities in these two States have issued alerts following the detection of H1N1 cases. According to Government officials, in Delhi 1,917 swine flu cases have been reported and six people have died due to the disease this year till February 18. Gujarat has reported 2,191 cases and 175 deaths as nine people succumbed to death on Thursday.
To help the people in need, a senior official said that the Health Ministry has started a new testing facility at AIIMS while a round-the-clock monitoring cell is in operation at the National Centre for Disease Control.