Swine flu: Death toll reaches 78 in Maharashtra, swabs test prices to be slashed

The minister also issued instruction to all public and private hospitals to reserve three beds for treatment of swine flu patients. He also gave a deadline till October for hospitals with over 50 beds to reserve two to five per cent of their total beds for isolation facility of infectious diseases.

The move comes following a sudden spurt in swine flu cases across the country. With 20 people across Maharashtra succumbing to swine flu in less than 24 hours, the death toll has reached an alarming new high of 78.

On Wednesday, the civic health department confirmed that the death of a 58-year-old male from Nashik, that happened on Monday, was caused due to the air-borne infection. The patient also suffered from hypertension, osteomyletis, chronic liver disease and diabetes that further aggravated his illness. He was transferred from a Nashik-based hospital to Mumbai’s civic hospital on February 13, however, he succumbed to the infection on February 16.

Dr Pradeep Awate, from Directorate of Health Services, said, “The reported swine flu deaths on Wednesday also include few deaths that happened earlier but were not reported because the cause was not assessed.”