Mumbai schools shut amid swine flu panic

Death toll in India rises to 17
The toll in swine flu pandemic across India mounted to 17 with seven more persons succumbing to the disease yesterday.
All educational institutions in India’s financial hub Mumbai were ordered to remain close for a week from today.
Meanwhile, the number of positive swine flu cases in India went past the 1,000-mark with 119 fresh cases reported on Tuesday.
Among the 17 deaths, 13 took place in Maharashtra state. Five who died yesterday were identified as Shrawani Deshpande, 29, Balu Kuland, 33, Nita Meghani, 50, Balu Kuland, 33 and Gautham Shalar, 48, in Pune, the city in the state worst hit by the disease and also the epicentre of the deadly H1N1 attack.
Nashik city, also in Mahrashtra, registered its first flu death when doctor Rupesh Gangurde, 38, was infected and died at the hospital yesterday.
A man died of swine flu in Thiruvanathapuram, capital of Kerala on Tuesday becoming the state’s first victim.
So far, the flu has claimed one each in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Thane, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram, two in Mumbai and ten in Pune – a total of 17 lives.
With the infection spreading fast, Maharashtra government ordered closure of all schools, colleges and coaching institutes in state’s capital Mumbai for a week and theatres and multiplexes for three days from today.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan told the closure of educational institutions was not aimed to create panic but as a “precautionary measure to check further growth of the disease.”
He claimed the situation was “definitely under control.”
The Maharashtra government is worried as some popular religious festivals are knocking the door, which naturally marks up large turnout of people on the streets and become vulnerable to air-borne swine flu virus.
Maharashtra’s opposition Shiv Sena and ruling Nationalist Congress Party, which shares power with Congress Party, appealed to the people to observe cultural programmes on a low key to check the virus from spreading.

Courtesy of The Daily Star