Situation Due To Swine Flu Under Control: KCR

Describing the situation as completely under control, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday announced that the state government would take steps on a war footing to tackle the rise of swine flu in the state.

Addressing a press conference after chairing an emergency meeting of state cabinet at the state Secretariat, the Chief Minister said that the entire health administration had been put on alert, and that the swine flu cases would be monitored on an hourly basis.

He said that currently seven states including Andhra Pradesh were affected by the H1N1 virus. He advised people with high fever, running noses, cough or other related symptoms to approach a nearby government hospital as the latter were better equipped to handle cases of swine flu.

He said that currently nearly 16,000 tablets of Tamiflu and other medicines were available with the government. The central government too was sending a fresh stock of more medicines to Hyderabad, and a team to review the situation.

The Chief Minister said that all the major public hospitals had been asked to create isolated wards for the treatment of swine flu cases. The corporate hospitals' cooperation too had been sought in fighting the H1N1 virus. He announced that the treatment of swine flu would be covered under the Aarogyasri scheme.

KCR said that swine flu was not a disease, and that it was a virus that spread from person to person. Admitting to some lapses by the health authorities, he assured that from today onwards an integrated approach would be adopted to control the spread of the disease.

He emphasized that all hospitals, from PHCs to the corporate sector, were ready to fight the H1N1 virus. He said that all DMHOs had been asked to keep 108 vehicles ready to transport patients suffering from swine flu to the government hospitals at free of cost.

"From today onwards, things will be allright. There will be continuous monitoring at the district level, and every day, the health department officials will apprise the Chief Secretary of the latest situation," he said.

The Chief Minister strongly defended his deputy and health minister Dr T Rajaiah on the denial of swine flu cases earlier. He said that the Deputy CM was stating what was being conveyed to him. He said that not all deaths reported in the various hospitals were due to swine flu, and that there were several other factors.

KCR confirmed 19 deaths due to swine flu so far. He admitted that he was in panic when he learnt about five deaths due to swine flu on Tuesday. He also said that it was due to the panic that he called up the Union Health Minister and then the Prime Minister seeking their assistance. He said that it was only after 3 pm today that he realised that swine flu was not an epidemic.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had held a high-level review meeting with ministers and senior officials, and another with representatives of corporate hospitals, on the swine flu issue. (INN)