Pune records 15th death as India toll touches 24
POSTED August 14, 2009 - 16:35 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on August 14, 2009 - 16:54
The first demise in the country was reported close to three months after the pandemic broke in Mexico in April.
However, things have taken a turn for the worse ever since. Eleven days down the line, data reveals that on average, two persons have lost their lives every day since the 3rd day of August. The death toll in the country due to H1N1 has climbed to 24.
Latest fatalities
The latest casualties of the swine flu are an elderly woman of Pune and a teenaged boy of Raipur.
70-year-old Parubhai Shinde, who breathed her last late Thursday night, became Pune’s 15th fatality. She had been admitted to a hospital four days back after she reported high fever and other flu-like symptoms.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old boy Sitaram Varma passed away in Raipur on Thursday. He is reportedly the first fatality of the swine flu in the state of Chhattisgarh situated in central India. The teenager was suffering from pneumonia and throat infection.
Corporate Pune battles it out
Pune has emerged as the swine flu epicenter in the country. The corporate world is leaving no stone unturned to thwart the spread of the flu in the city.
Pune is home to over 200 IT companies that provide employment to over two lakh employees. All big names operate out of the city.
Among other measure, employees have been given the option of working from home. In case travel due to official work is unavoidable, the employee is handed a travel pack that includes a disinfectant and a mask.
Some companies have issued travel advisories asking people not to move in and out of Pune. Face-to-face meetings have given way to video conferencing.
Government acts
The sudden spurt in the death toll appears to have caught the union health ministry unaware. It’s tall claims of having sufficient checks and balances in place and of being ready for any eventuality have been proven wrong.
The government has now decided to conduct an orientation programme. Experts from private laboratories that have been assigned the job of carrying out diagnostics test for suspected swine flu patients will attend the program. The endeavor is to check the preparedness of these private firms in testing swine flu samples.
