Mumbai: The civic authorities in Pune have decided to close down all schools, colleges, cinema halls and malls from Monday in an attempt to arrest the spread of swine flu in the city.
While schools and colleges will be closed for the entire week, cinema halls will be shut for three days, a state government spokesman announced in Pune.
A 35-year-old Ayurveda-practitioner doctor in Pune died of influenza A (H1N1) virus early on Monday, taking the toll to six in the country. India's first swine flu victim was 14-year-old Rida Shaikh who died August 3, also in Pune.
Pune comes to a standstill
All educational institutions shall be shut down till Aug 17 in Pune, the state's IT capital, and the twin cities of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar said in the afternoon.
Similarly, malls where huge crowds gather, increasing the risk of swine flu, shall remain shut for a week.
Multiplexes and cinema halls shall be closed for the next three days, he said.
"The decision came in the wake of a high-level meeting organised by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, authorising the district administrations to take appropriate steps in the matter," Ajit Pawar said.
Following this, Pawar held a meeting of the district's top civil, police, health and education officials.
The decisions were prompted by the third swine flu death in the city -- and fourth in the state in one week -- as the number of H1N1 cases has been rising at an alarming rate. The victims from Maharashtra include a minor girl, a woman and two men, including a medico and a teacher.
The total number of swine flue deaths in the country touched six on Monday. A women from Nagpur succumbed to the disease in Singapore.
In a related development, two more Mumbai schools -- St Dominic Savio National Open School, Andheri east and Arya Vidya Mandir school in Juhu -- were declared shut for a week Monday after two students were found positive in the Andheri school and one in the school in Juhu. The infected students have been admitted to a government health centre, according to officials.
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Last week, the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Bandra-Kurla Complex and the J.B. Vachha School, Matunga were shut for a week after some of their students were detected with H1N1 virus.
But the state is about to witness the festive season and worries abound if there will be a ban on festivities too.
Putting to rest all rumours of a Mumbai shutdown, Maharashtra's Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said that the festivities in the city will be held as any other year. and that there'll be no restrictions on public places.
Meanwhile the city has added six more testing centres for suspected swine flu cases.
They are:
- Cooper Hospital
- Bhabha Hospital
- S K Patil Hospital
- V N Desai Hospital
- Govandi Hospital
- Kannamwar Nagar Hospital
Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister, Kiran Walia has tried to stem the panic regarding the virulent disease.
Suspected cases can now utilise testing facilities at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Patel Chest but will have to ultimately be referred to National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
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