With no let-up in the spread of swine flu, the Rajasthan government has directed all major private hospitals to create separate wards and intensive care units for patients with the disease.
It has also decided to draw up a plan for dealing with the disease in the next four years.
All private hospitals with 50 beds will need to have a separate swine flu ward for five patients and hospitals with more than 100 beds will have to keep 10 beds aside.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Health Minister Rajendra Rathore on Sunday.
Rajasthan has witnessed the highest number of swine flu deaths in the country, with the toll crossing 220; close to 5,000 people have tested positive for the disease so far this year.
All public hospitals have separate swine flu wards and out-patient departments. All private laboratories have been asked to offer free testing. Over 60 medical shops here have been licensed to sell Tamiflu across the counter on production of prescription.
According to official figures released here on Monday, over 34 lakh patients have reported with symptoms similar to those of swine flu at the public health facilities since January 1 this year, and more than seven lakh of them have been given medication. Similarly, 32 lakh people have been screened at home, and four lakh have been treated for symptoms similar to those of swine flu.
No need to panic, says U.P. Govt.
Special Correspondent adds from Lucknow:
The Uttar Pradesh Government on Monday said it was fully equipped to deal with the swine flu and asked residents not to panic.
Meanwhile, 17 new patients were tested positive for the H1N1 virus in the State, taking the total number of those affected to 297.
Lucknow remains to be the most-affected city where 14 new cases were reported in last 24 hours while the total number of case have reached 247. As many as 17 districts of the state are under the grip of the deadly viral infection.
“'There is no need to panic due to swine flu. Those who are saying hundreds have died due to the disease are wrong. We have made all the arrangements to deal with it (H1N1 virus) and have sufficient amount of medicines,'' Uttar Pradesh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan said.
